The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), today urged telecommunications operators to comply with the terms and conditions of their licenses and stop further breach of the law.
Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, NCC, gave the directive at a forum on compliance in Abuja.
He noted that the growth recorded in the industry had thrown up new challenges, including lack of adherence to industry regulations.
“Section 38 (2) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, makes it mandatory for all operators to comply with their license terms and conditions as well as other subsidiary legislation. The operators, among other things, are required by law to promptly declare information on their statistical data, technical roll out plans, equipment types, interconnection agreements, payment and renewal of regulatory fees,” he said.
He added that NCC had discovered that many operators breached the statutory and regulatory requirements, thereby stifling consumer satisfaction.
“ Our experience has been that operators do not meet all their obligations or adhere to all the terms and conditions of their license.
“So often these failures by the operators hamper the work of the commission to deliver to its various stakeholders. And the Commission spends a lot of productive manpower in following up with licenses, to ensure compliance, ” he said.
According to Ndukwe, the new thrust of the Commission will be to impose penalties and enforce sanctions, to ensure strict compliance with all regulatory obligations, license terms and conditions.
It was gathered that 105 companies were yet to renew their licenses as at Aug. 31, as indicated on the Commission’s web site.
Some of the companies got licenses for provision of various telecommunications services in the country in 2004.
Wale Goodluck, a representative of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (Alton), called for a law to guarantee respect for operators and consumers.
He advised NCC to be sensitive to the operators’ commercial needs and consider entering into a service-level agreement with them.
He also called for an end to the arbitrary notices from various departments of the Commission, requesting for the same kind of data.