Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it would only wield the big stick, which is the withdrawal of operating licenses as a last resort if operators fail to improve their services.
The Commission also said it would always strive for the good of the industry especially the best deal for consumers, operators and Nigeria as whole and would continue to prevail on the operators to improve their services with a view to meeting the demand of subscribers.
Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman of NCC, however admitted that, though, there have been series of complaints by subscribers in the area of poor quality service, revocation of licences is not the solution.
In an exclusive chat with CommunicationsWeek, Ndukwe said, "yes, it is true that subscribers across the country are complaining about poor quality of service being rendered by the operators. This has resulted to various actions by the NCC and the Senate committee on communications, but invalidation (of Licenses) would be the last resort for the commission".
On rural telephony, he explained, that since Nigeria has been adjudged by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the fastest growing ICT country in Africa, having gone far ahead South Africa in terms of subscriber base, the main pre-occupation of the regulatory body is to ensure that all rural communities in the country are connected to the network.
The commission, he assured, would not relent in its effort to ensure that rural communities benefit from modern communication technology with the Universal Service Provision (USPF) in place.