Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has reacted to the directive by Dr. isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, to deactivate voicemail on phone lines , insisting that voicemail is opt-in value added service (VAS) only.
ALTON maintained that within the Section 23 and 24 of the Nigerian Communications Act, “this is not a major ‘policy issue’ which must align with consultations to be organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
“It is a mere operational/consumer protection issue which the Ministry can simply call NCC’s attention to,” ALTON insisted amounted to unnecessary interference.
The group which is the umbrella of all licensed mobile network operators, noted that in as much that they want to believe that the Minister was misquoted.
However, ALTON posited that “Voicemail (VM) is a value-added service. Only those who opt-in should have it” stressing that the current practice on some networks is that once subscribers call and the recipient does not pick, “you get a voice prompt saying that the subscriber is not available and asking you to record a voice message *after the tone*”
They further said that for the avoidance of doubt subscribers are not billed anything, but if they delay in either exiting in the event of not wanting the voicemail, “they may be charged for a few seconds, or for the time it takes you to record the message.”
ALTON pointed out that the recipient of the voice mail does not get charged for listening, because “It is free.”
The group explained in a press statement signed by Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman; and Gbolahan Awonuga, head of Operations, said that VM is a value added service and should only be provisioned for those who expressly request for it, recalling that MNOs reintroduced the VM facility to discourage people who “flash” continuously.
“Flashing wastes network resources and also degrades QoS reporting. This should not however justify the practise the way it is being done by some networks” they said.
ALTON, however maintained that, VM is not a major “policy issue” within the meaning of S. 23&24 of the NCA which empowers the Minister to formulate “general policy for the communications sector…” after due consultations organised by the NCC, describing it as a mere operational cum consumer protection issue which the Ministry could simply refer to NCC’s attention.
“It is a purely consumer related issues that minister refers to as a major policy issue and also amounts to unnecessary interference by the Minister contrary to Section 25 subsections 1 & 2 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003,” ALTON insisted.
Recall that Dr. isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, had directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to ensure that telecommunications companies deactivate automatic voicemail subscriptions on phone lines.
In a statement released by Uwa Suleiman, spokesperson to the minister, Pantami said voicemail service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default.
“The attention of the honourable minister of communications and digital economy has been drawn to the latest trend of financial exploitation by mobile network operators (MNOs) in the country through the automatic activation of the voicemail service on their platforms,” the statement read.
“Based on recent reports reaching the office. the practice has gained momentum in recent times.
“The voicemail service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default. The honourable minister finds it worrisome and totally unacceptable, that telecoms subscribers incur financial charges, for a service they are compelled to use by default.”
Explaining the rationale behind the directive, Pantami said voicemail is not a popular service among Nigerians and rural dwellers mostly understand the language used by networks on the service.
“It is apparent, that the recent clampdown on the exploitative activities of some mobile network operators (MNOs) in the country has beamed the searchlight on the sector properly and some unpatriotic elements in the system are devising subtle, ingenious methods of defrauding Nigerians.
“In the light of this. Dr Pantami has issued a broad policy directive to the sector regulator Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to immediately ensure that issues regarding automatic voicemails are addressed on all existing phone lines and the subscribers, given the option of accessing the service via an activation code.”