The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it would be deploying Revenue Assurance Solutions (RAS) to increase the amount of revenue going to the coffers of the Federal Government from the telecommunications sector.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, it became imperative to take this step as resources at the disposal of the government continue to dwindle by the day.
To that end, the Commission at the weekend signed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with its consultants, 3R Company Nigeria Limited, for the execution of the RAS solution.
The EVC of the NCC says the deployment of RAS would enhance monitoring and regulatory activities concerning Annual Operating Levy (AOL) administration in the telecommunications industry and confer higher levels of integrity and fidelity on the AOL figures obtainable in the industry.
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Speaking during the agreement signing ceremony in Abuja, Danbatta said: “It is our belief that if we can be able to deploy RAS and ensure we get the true picture of what the Mobile Networks Operators (MNOs) are supposed to be paying by way of AOL, we would have accomplished an important milestone in the area of revenue generation for the Commission as well as for the government.”
The EVC commended the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) for the guidance provided in the process of consummating the partnership.
“I want to commend the Project Delivery Team (PDT), comprising staff of the Commission, who worked tirelessly in ensuring the project was brought to fruition, for their efforts and urged the 3R Company Nigeria Limited to ensure effective deployment and implementation of the project within its scope, objective and government’s expectations,” he added.
In his comment, the Chief Executive Officer, 3R Nigeria Limited, Mr. Raymond Wodi, thanked the Commission for the opportunity given to the company to serve the industry and the government through the deployment of 3R’s technology solution to ensure a more effective revenue generation from telecom licensees. He also assured the stakeholders that 3R is ready to meet and exceed expectations on the assignment.
The RAS project is designed to be connected to the licensed telecommunications operators’ systems and will have the capability of capturing and reporting in near real-time billing activities by the operators for the purposes of computing and assuring with minimal or no error margin, the accrued AOL payable to the NCC by the licensees.
When deployed, the NCC RAS will bring a lot of solutions to the industry, including more effective and enhanced monitoring and regulation of the licensed telecommunications operators by the Commission.