LSUFRU to Embark on Audit of Telecom Masts

Mr. Joe Igbokwe, General Manager, Lagos State Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU) under the Ministry of Physical Planning has said that the agency will embark on structural audit of telecom masts in the Lagos metropolis to ascertain their compliance to stipulated guideline.
This is coming against the backdrop of the collapse of two telecom masts as a result of fierce rain storm in Lagos last week.
Worried by the impact of the collapsed masts, LSUFRU has also invited telecoms operators, ISPs, and other mast owners to discuss the issue, aimed at preventing further occurrence.
The damages caused by the rain were so much that it disrupted telecoms services in Lagos metropolis and beyond. Telecommunications calls were affected, as subscribers could not make successful calls, and text messages were not delivered promptly as a result of network failure caused by the rain and wind.
Lagos Commissioner for Physical Planning, says the Ministry has henceforth taken over the regulation of the location, positioning, dimensions, appearance, display and manner in which urban furniture, masts inclusive, shall be affixed to land in the state, promising that things will never be the same again.
Mr. Igbokwe in a statement, said “as a consequence of this, all Telecoms operators, ISPs, Banks, Television Stations, Radio Stations, among other masts users are expected in few days to present a report on the integrity of their structures, seek permit for all the existing structures and the ones yet to be built in the metropolis,” adding that in the next few days the Commissioner will give further clarifications and directives on the matter.
Before last week incidence, telecoms operators and the Lagos State Government have been having a running battle on who is to regulate the telecoms structures in Lagos, whether it is the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which is the telecoms regulatory body, or Lagos State. While the battle has been going on in the courts, the structures continue to go down, killing people and destroying property, as there was no substantial regulator of telecoms masts and infrastructure in Lagos State, following an earlier court injunction from a Lagos Federal High Court, restraining Lagos State from regulating telecoms masts in the state.
“As a government that is responsible and responsive, our duty is to ensure that we put structures in place to reduce the effects of these natural disasters to the barest minimum. We therefore sympathise with those who lost their loved ones, and those who lost their property. We promise that government will leave no stone unturned in dealing with the challenges ahead,” Igbokwe said.