- Commits To Sustain Policy
By Cyber Era Staff
Regulation trumps industry and following its unwavering endorsement of and belief in the ability of telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), to regulate the industry for growth, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria(ATCON), has aligned its consumer-centric policy with that of the Commission.
In his paper titled: The Role of Telecommunications Companies In Protecting Consumer Rights, delivered at the 2nd Webinar Series on Consumer Protection on Sustainability Amidst The Pandemic: Business And Human Rights, Executive Secretary of ATCON, Ajibola Olude says consumers are kings and member companies of ATCON will continue to treat them as such. The Webinar was jointly put together by International Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (IN-CSR)and the National Human Rights Commission.
Reviewing the progress made so far in the industry, Olude concluded it was unprecedented, considering the pre-liberalisation era characterized by monopoly of NITEL that boasted less than 500,000 lines and a lack-luster teledensity figure when compared with the post-liberalisation stats. He listed the drawbacks to government ownership and control of telecommunications companies as follow:
- Deprivation of telephones to Nigerians
- Poor contribution to National GDP
- Less people were employed by the sector
- Inadequate professionals in the sector
- Poor funding of the sector in terms of infrastructure development
- Large scale corruption and embezzlement
- Network rollout challenges
- Restricted Choices
- Poor quality of service
Olude affirmed that ATCON championed liberalization advocacy that eventually birthed liberalization. On effective service delivery, ATCON’Executive Secretary stated that member companied were working very hard to make sure that all telecom consumers had value for every kobo spent on telecom services On continuous education, Olude stated that member companies had been educating consumers on how they could use their data effectively.
“The more apps you have on your phone the quicker your data will be consumed,” he said adding protecting consumer rights and interest were the basis of telecom companies existence.
