License holders in the telecommunications sector will be held more responsible for all of their actions moving ahead.
This was said yesterday in Lagos during a conversation with journalists by Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Using the event to present his proposal for the industry, Maida stated that it is now essential to reposition and advance the industry.
The EVC, who celebrated his 100th day on the job yesterday, said that the NCC would be led by him and would prioritize cooperation, data-driven operations, compliance and oversight, and digitization.
Regarding compliance, Maida emphasized that operators must uphold agreements and stated that the commission would hold all industry license holders accountable for all of their acts in the sector.
Maida’s statement coincided with the announcement from NCC that it has ordered MTN to halt Globacom’s disconnection due to interconnect indebtedness.
According to the NCC, MTN and Globacom have come to a resolution over the interconnect debt issue, whereby the former was supposed to disconnect the latter.
This occurred yesterday, the same day that the Commission’s 10-day pre-disconnection notification expired.
But according to an NCC statement signed by Reuben Mouka, director of public affairs, the disconnect is only “put on hold” for 21 days, beginning on January 17, 2024. It is anticipated that the debt problem will have been fully settled during this time.
Recall that last week, the telecom regulator authorized MTN’s partial disconnection of Globacom due to the latter’s inability to settle its interconnect debt.
Subsequently, MTN followed the telecom regulator’s instructions and partially disconnected the Glo network from its network. This would prevent Globacom customers from being able to call any MTN number. On the other hand, MTN subscribers can make incoming calls to Glo customers.
Muoka stated: “The parties have now agreed to settle all outstanding problems between them, which the Commission is happy to announce. Due to this, and in the exercise of its regulatory authority therein, the Commission has decided to postpone the phased disconnection until January 17, 2024, or 21 (twenty-one) days from now.”
“The Commission demands that all operating firms settle their interconnect debts as a prerequisite to all licensees complying with their regulatory requirements, even though it expects MTN and Glo to address all outstanding issues in a span of 21 days. In the telecom sector, license holders such as mobile network operators (MNOs) and others are required to adhere to the terms and conditions of their licenses, particularly those found in their interconnection agreements.”
Remember that as of 2020, interconnect debt was estimated to be worth over N70 billion by Prof. Umar Danbatta, the former Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, who called it “a big challenge” for the industry. He added that this debt has been threatening the operators’ ability to expand their infrastructure to provide higher-quality service.
According to Maida’s plan, NCC will collaborate with three key stakeholders—telecom customers, operators (investors), and the government—to spur growth to accomplish the four objectives mentioned.
He emphasized that all stakeholders’ requirements would be met, particularly concerning the quality of experience (QoE) of the services.
The EVC, who insisted on the commission’s independence, insisted that all matters would be managed and carried out transparently.
“Everyone in the value chain, including industrial license holders, will be held responsible. There will be penalties and new regulations,” he said.
The EVC promised that the industry would continue to serve as the foundation for other industries and that its operations would follow international best practices.
