NCC EVC, Maida unveils strategic plans for Nigeria’s telecom sector

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida has shared his strategic plans for Nigeria’s telecom sector for 2024 and beyond.

At a meeting with top media practitioners in Lagos on Thursday, Dr. Maida expressed his appreciation to the media for the support over the years, and in particular in his first hundred days in office.

Dr. Maida reiterated that the NCC under his watch will largely focus on collaboration with relevant stakeholders in the industry in the area of enlightenment, noting that there is still a lot of work to do, especially for consumers in rural communities.

He also disclosed that NCC will be more data centric going forward because the world is now a global village and practically all businesses now revolve around data, hence the commission will do everything within its regulatory framework to work with telecom operators in the provision of quality and affordable service for consumers.

“It goes without saying that we are in a bull position, to be able to leverage the data which flows through our communication networks to be able to make decisions that are well informed to everything that we’re going to be as much as possible, be data driven.

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“So we’re going to be driving the collection of a lot of data from our stakeholders, and also using that to project the work we’re doing so that we can have a high level of transparency because what you don’t measure more people accountable to recover drive efficiency or performance. Compliance is also another driver.

He gave assurance of improved quality of service by telecoms and solutions to the Right of Way (ROW) challenge for operators

Dr. Maida also assured that the NCC will also improve compliance by all stakeholders to ensure that the industry performs optimally in the coming years.

“We are hoping to embrace technology and also reduce turnover cases. And other really key services are greatly improved. We’re also going to be doing advocacy in the areas of infrastructure development.

“Also, we will look seriously in the area of multiple taxation and how to ease the burden through advocacy.

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He said the Commission would be able to hold the service providers accountable for their responsibilities to the customers, but in a collaborative fashion, avowing to impose sanctions when necessary.

On the issue of subscribers Identification modules linked to the National Identity Number Policy, the EVC assured that the NCC will work on total compliance as it will improve and secure digital services in the country’s telecoms industry.

“I think we’re going to do a lot more work and always create more rapport between the NCC and its various stakeholders. These are areas where we’ll be working with our necessities to drive things, and also to see how we can make the tariff simpler or more transparent.

In his remark, the publisher of Business Day, Frank Aigbogun lauded the NCC for its achievements in the areas of increased active mobile subscriptions, tele density, broadband penetration, and contribution to GDP.

He however, warned the commission to avoid over regulation of the industry in order not to scare investors away, describing the sector as Nigeria’s shining light to the world.

Dr. Aminu Maida was appointed as the new Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in October 2023 by President Bola Tinubu. Until Maida’s appointment, Prof Umar Danbatta had been the EVC of NCC since 2015.