The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has been giving an account of his stewardship as Nigeria’s Chief Telecom Regulator in the last five years.
In an interactive session with senior media chiefs from the mainstream and online media community at the weekend, attended by top media executives, both physically and virtually, Danbatta eloquently enumerated the major policy initiatives that has brought him success in his first term.
The EVC who recently was reappointed for another five years in office following the expiration of his first term last month said those policy initiatives have seen him record successes in broadband penetration and enhanced the growth in the telecoms sector, especially in the contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He listed the Commission’s regulatory priority areas for the next five years as he begins his second 5-year tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of the NCC to include facilitating the attainment of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025; consumer protection and empowerment; and consolidation of spectrum trading to ensure maximum and efficient usage of available frequencies.
The other areas of focus as listed by the EVC include continuous SIM registration audit to provide security and curtail incidences of banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery; creation of Emergency Communications Centres (ECCs) in more states of the federation; and execution of the counterpart funding agreements with the licensed Infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to facilitate the digital transformation of the economy.
The EVC said that in 2015, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the telecom sector stood at $1 billion but declined to $212 million by 2018. However, he noted that through regulatory efforts, the FDI in the sector has picked up again reaching $930 million according to recent figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Danbatta also spoke about the various consumer-centric initiatives his leadership has put in place to strengthen consumer protection and empowerment in the last five years.
The initiatives include the declaration of 2017 as the Year of the Consumer, the introduction of the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code, the introduction of the NCC toll-free Number 622; the stringent provisions of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Registration Guidelines, issuance of direction on forceful subscription and data roll-over, among others.
They also include the constitution of a multi-sectoral committee on e-fraud, revision of the consumer complaints, and service level agreements (CC/SLA) for prompt resolution of consumer complaints by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
Danbatta reiterated the Commission’s commitment towards delivering on its mandate of ensuring the quality of service to the consumers, driving investment, and boosting healthy competition in the industry as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003.
He extolled the media for its role in the reportage of the telecom sector over the years and urged the practitioners to continue to be objective and constructive in their coverage of the activities of the Commission and that of its licensees.
The media interactive session was attended by senior management of the Commission, including the Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu.