Consultation Vital to Telecom Regulation – Ndukwe

Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said that wide consultations among the key stakeholders in the industry are one of the critical success factors in the Nigerian telecom industry.
Ndukwe who said this during the visit of the newly constituted Committee on Communications of the House of Representatives, explained that after such a consultation, the regulator has followed with positive, bold and timely decisions which are critical to the industry where time is of essence.
He told the members of the committee led by Hon. Dave Salako its chairman, that it was such decisive decision that led to liberalization and encouragement of new entrants as it is the disease of incumbents everywhere in the world to stand against new entrants, but that the commission was firm in allowing other entrants into the sector for the benefit of the consumer.
He said the national telecom policy encourages private sector participation in the sector while one of the key functions of the commission is to facilitate private sector investment in the sector.
Engr. Ndukwe noted that such decisions were taken in the transition from exclusivity period for four mobile operators, to the unified licensing regime where a single authorization allows operators to deliver multiple services under one license.
He added that Nigeria is now rated in Africa as number one in terms of number of active connected lines while the Commission is rated as one of the foremost telecom regulatory agency because of some innovative actions and programmes like the telecom consumer parliament, among others resulting in various multilateral agencies recommending Nigeria to some nations as a model regulatory agency to understudy.
Engr. Ndukwe also noted that the Commission’s success today, resulting in latest figures of 57 Million active subscriber network in the country and private sector investment to the tune of about US$12 Billion as against US$50 Million as at 2000, are also attributable to the support of the executive and legislative arm of government in the course of the commission’s regulatory activities.
Hon. Salako, chairman of the House Committee on Communications, earlier in his remarks, said that the Committee will focus on how to collaborate with the Commission to further achieve more of its objectives. He said the Committee is not interested in probing or witch hunting anybody and commended the Commission for its bold and remarkable achievements.