Customers satisfaction tops telecom consumer parliament

By ADEDEJI ADEYEMI FAKOREDE

THE Telecom Consumer Parliament is a forum that is dedicated to consumers of telecom products and services to interface with operators, key players in the industry and the regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Over the years, the forum has provided opportunities for telecom consumers to seat face to face with representatives of telcos and discusses various issues and challenges they experience and it has proven to be a veritable platform for the resolution of such problems.

The 77th edition of the parliament was not an exception as telecom consumers’ satisfaction still ruled the day with the regulators, stressing that telecom operator who fails to adequately represent consumers’ interest will be sanctioned.
Ministers’ charge

Shortly after his assumption of duty as the minister of communication, Mr Adebayo Shittu, on March 8, 2016, summoned the chief executive officers of various telecoms operators in his office in Abuja, where he sounded a note of warning to them to desist from sending unsolicited text messages through their networks, or face sanctions.

He noted that his office has been inundated with complaints, petitions and calls on the fraudulent and un-authorised charges by telecoms operators in the country, and warned that their fraudulent activities against subscribers must stop forthwith or “severe sanctions will be imposed on any operators that violate the directive.”

The minister went ahead to direct the NCC to properly monitor telecoms operators and prevent them from exacting any dubious charges for services not rendered and provides regular updates on a monthly basis, enumerating other infractions such as extortion of subscribers, incessant dropped calls on all networks, dead or silent calls, deficiency in data penetration as some of the areas that telecoms operators have been short-changing Nigerians over the years.

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NCC takes action
Sequel to the minister’s directive, on April 19, 2016, the NCC wrote 13 mobile network operators (MNOs), informing them to stop broadcasting unsolicited text messages to subscribers forthwith, or risk sanction of fine. In the letter sent to the MNOs, the NCC said that there have been complaints from subscribers about the menace of unsolicited text messages as well as calls from MNOs which have impacted negatively on consumer quality experience in the telecoms sector.

Citing section 53 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, and the Nigerian Communications enforcement process regulations 2005, the NCC issued a directive to the 13 MNOs, explaining that it shall on or before June 30, 2016, dedicate the short code 2442 for use by subscribers to opt in for the “Do Not Disturb (DND)” database, restricting unsolicited marketing messages for voice and SMS, and that it shall be mandatory on the operator to create sufficient awareness for its subscribers of the existence of the DND service on their networks. The operators, according to the new directive, shall comply with the quarterly and reporting template prescribed by the commission to ensure feedback and compliance.

The directive, however, specified that operator-generated SMS is excluded from the DND list in as much as such messages are in conformity with the commission’s directive on timing and regularity and do not constitute a nuisance to subscribers who shall have the right of a partial or full DND implementation.

More Sanctions Underway
The NCC slammed a whopping N1.04 trillion fine on MTN Nigeria for its failure to disconnect 5.2 million improperly registered lines within the prescribed deadline on October 2015.

However, speaking at the 77th Edition of the Telecoms Consumer Parliament in Abuja, the executive vice chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, warned of more sanctions for telecom operators who fail to comply with the effective date, June 30, 2016, for the “Do-Not-Disturb” directive.

He said, “As you are probably aware by now, the commission responded to the cries of consumers by recently issuing direction to all MNOs mandating them to dedicate a short code, 2442 on their networks for use by subscribers to opt in for the “Do-Not-Disturb” database to register their numbers against unsolicited messages. The effective date for compliance is June 30, 2016. There are sanctions for non-compliance to this direction.”