The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta has urged the National Assembly to consider passing urgently the bill for the protection of critical national telecommunications infrastructure.
Speaking in Lagos at the flag-off of a road-show campaign against telecom infrastructure vandalisation, Dambatta said that once enacted, the law would give more legal teeth to the prosecution of offenders and enable the protection of telecom infrastructure for the benefit of citizens.
“Over 80 million people today have access to the internet; there are 152 million active telephone lines as at November 2015, so much that telecom has become an indispensable device in the hands of most Nigerians,” the EVC said.
Represented by the NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, he said that besides being the “biggest dividend in our growing democracy,” telecom is also one of the biggest contributors to the national gross domestic product (GDP) with over 10 per cent pushing up the economic growth and complementing government’s diversification into non-oil revenue. Millions of Nigerians are directly and indirectly employed by the industry, earning reasonable incomes.”
Danbatta, however, worried that the benefits and all the useful services enjoyed today from the telecom industry are being threatened “by the spate of vandalism of telecom infrastructure across the country.”
Besides slowing down the pace of growth and contribution to poor quality of service (QoS), other vices arising from the vandalisation include cutting of cables, destruction of base stations, stealing of generators and general pilfering of telecoms equipment in some host communities.
“That is why we are here to campaign against vandalism and to tell our fellow citizens to be part of the war against the destruction of telecom infrastructure. We need to be more vigilant. We need to report any form of vandalism to security agencies. In the existing laws of this country, vandalising telecom infrastructure carries heavy penalties that include a jail term if found culpable.”
Visafone acqusition: We’ll meet Etisalat in court – MTN
MTN Nigeria said it is ready to meet Etisalat Nigeria in court over its acquisition of Visafone Communications Limited.
The company is deploying the 800MHz spectrum for the commercial rollout of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for its fourth generation (4G) network.
Etisalat explained further: “The use of the 800MHz spectrum to deploy broadband services ahead of its competitors, particularly those who prior to MTNs purchase of Visafone, held similar spectrum bands as MTN, will further entrench MTN’s dominance in the Nigerian telecommunications sector.”
MTN Monday confirmed that it has been served with court summons for the suit filed by Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Ltd (Etisalat Nigeria) over the acquisition of Visafone.
According to MTN executive, Amina Oyagbola, “Etisalat has filed a lawsuit against MTN and Visafone, and we have filed appropriate processes before the court for necessary determination. The acquisition of Visafone was concluded after obtaining all necessary statutory and regulatory approvals. I am not able to comment further as the matter is sub judice.”
Oyagbola added that the acquisition allows Visafone and MTN to leverage resources for service enhancement while also deepening the growth and roll-out of broadband services across the country in support of the National Broadband Plan for the benefit of Nigerians.
She also made reference to media reports credited to regulatory authorities that the acquisition would help to sustain the continuity of CDMA services in Nigeria in addition to being beneficial to operators and subscribers.
It will be recalled that this is not the first time Etisalat is suing MTN.
In July, 2015 the company filed a suit against NCC and MTN at the Federal High Court, Lagos, seeking a number of orders including an Order of Mandamus to compel NCC to direct MTN to withdraw its 11kobo per second tariff plan, among others. This was the same tariff plan widely advertised and being charged by other networks including Etisalat and approved by NCC. MTN filed a Preliminary Objection challenging the suit, and on 2nd December, 2015, Etisalat’s action was dismissed by the court with costs awarded in favour of NCC and MTN.
Etisalat said the action is considered necessary to prevent the use of the spectrum by MTN at this time, as it will entrench the dominance of MTN in the retail data services market. It said that MTN Nigeria was declared dominant by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2013 and remains dominant in the wholesale leased line and retail voice markets.
Etisalat said in a statement: “We have in addition and in line with Section 86 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 engaged the NCC to understand the basis of its decision to approve the acquisition. As you are aware, the matter is already in court as such, we are restrained from commenting further on it.”
-Leadership