Intrigues Stall Amendment of Communications Act

The proposed amendment of certain aspects of Communications Act (2003) is embroiled in web of confusion three years after the National Assembly indicated that it will rejig the Act to curb the excesses of service providers and give powers of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to enable it bark and bite at the same time, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
High wire politics by some interests in the National Assembly and intense lobby by major network operators are some of the reason why the Act is still in the cooler.
First sign that the ACT has hit a brick wall showed in March this year when a stake holders’ forum meant to inject new ideas into the Act was postponed indefinitely.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that since then speculations, bulk passing and intrigues have dotted the process.
Attempts made to get the view of Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, Senate Committee chairman on communications were not successful.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered the amendment will specifically address complaints against poor telephone services by operators and make it mandatory for operators to refund to subscribers such monies spent on subscription based on established cases of call drops or call terminations or in any clearly proven cases of poor service delivery.
The review of the existing laws will accommodate the dynamics of the industry and most importantly lead to the birth of Telecom tribunal with powers to prosecute or sanction erring operators.