Contrary to the initial promise given by telecoms operators that telecoms service would improve across networks after three months from the date of implementation of the 50 per cent hike in telecoms tariff, which was approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in January this year, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, has said subscribers would actually begin to experience improved service quality after nine months from the implementation date, which took effect from March this year.
Given the March 2025 date for the implementation of 50 per cent hike in telecoms tariff, coupled with the fresh assurances given by the NCC, it became obvious that subscribers would wait till December this year, to begin to experience improved telecoms service, going by the latest promise from NCC, the telecoms industry regulator.
Maida, who gave the promise yesterday in Lagos during a media parley, however blamed telecoms infrastructure vandalism on lack of collaboration between telecoms operators and contractors that often damage underground fibre cables during road construction, a development, he said, has led to poor service quality and in some cases, outright disconnection of telecoms services in the affected areas.
According to Maida, operators have commenced investment in the areas of network expansion and network upgrades, and in few months time subscribers will begin to benefit from such investment.
“Operators have placed orders for telecoms equipment shipment and those equipments have started arriving as of June this year. And the commission is working very closely with the operators. We have bi-weekly calls with them to track progress of network upgrades and expansion.
“We started the network upgrade with the North-central, and Abuja, and it will soon be extended to Lagos and other parts of the country. We had to start from the North-central purely because of the scale of the work that needs to be done in those areas,” Maida said.
While blaming lack of collaboration between telecoms operators and road contractors, for the destruction and vandalism of telecoms infrastructure across the country, Maida said operators have been tasked to provide adequate security at telecoms sites.
“So we have revised the guidelines for security at all location sites and we issued them to the all location service providers and we gave them the timeline to comply.
“So they must be basic requirements for security at sites, both from a technology perspective and also manpower perspective. First and foremost, we must do our own bit to secure our sites,” Maida said.
Maida also said the NCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, to protect telecoms infrastructure and also improve telecoms services across the country.
Giving details about the slow rollout of 5G services in the country, Maida said operators may have over promised on the 5G delivery mandate, coupled with the realities of harsh business environment that faced the telecoms industry in recent times.
“On the 5G coverage, I think the simple answer is that perhaps the operators overpromised, but also I think the macroeconomic situation also contributed to the slow rollout of 5G across the country. A situation whereby operators are not getting the right investment, they will try to maintain what they have, as opposed to growing a new layer of radio technology and network. But the good news is that 4G and 5G are growing, while 3G and 2G are shrinking,” Maida further said.
He however said when the ongoing spectrum trade is completed in the coming weeks, there would be available spectrum for operators to rollout 5G network more rapidly than before.
(This Day)
