NCC warns telecom operators to adhere to guidelines

Aminat Isah

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned operators in the telecommunications industry to fully abide by the commission’s regulatory guidelines or face sanctions.

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC gave the warning in. His welcome address at the “Meet The Regulator Forum” on Promoting regulatory Compliance Through Dialogue on Tuesday in  Abuja.

The EVC who was represented by Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Mr Sunday Dare said “It would be rather elementary for us to begin to lecture you on the need to study your license documents to familiarize yourselves with NCC’s regulations and guidelines, and to ensure 100% compliance with applicable regulatory instruments so as to avoid sanctions.

“The NCC developed a strategic vision of being “a responsive, world class communications regulatory organization. It is true that our efforts in this direction has been globally acclaimed, but we have no doubts that we can only continue to to pursue this vision by effectively meeting the aspirations of our key stakeholders,”

Mr. Dare explained that it is a known fact that Nigeria’s telecoms industry has attained an enviable heights through the combination of stable regulation and private sector commitment which he said is supported by an enabling environment provided by government.

He noted that a growing economy such as Nigeria is placing a high level of importance on telecoms infrastructure to help it drive socio-economic growth.

According to him, the NCC making effective use of ICT in education,health,and social services;the increasing digitalization of manufacturing and the processes;the widespread use of IoT and other technologies,as well as the early roll put of 5G network to drive the game-changers.

“More importantly,the industry landscape is changing, the scope of regulators and organizations are being challenged too, so we should ask ourselves is the operator-regulator relationship healthy enough to sustain the successful operations of the industry.

He further said the  NCC is very clear on its role to facilitate the successful operation of licensees as the operator-regulator relation is a symbiotic one that is required for  licensees to succeed.

He restates the commission’s  preparedness in ensuring a speedier and more efficient availability of regulatory resources such as spectrum, numbering, approval amongst others.

“We are working on streamlining our processes to address your concerns about turnaround speed. We shall also continue to impartially perform the responsibilities imposed on us by our role as independent regulators of the telecoms industry”. He said.

The Director Legal Services, NCC , Yetunde Akinloye, said the forum was an avenue for the commission to meet with stakeholders in the telecoms industry, the stakeholders get to meet the NCC  with an opportunity of inquiring into how NCC’s processes run, especially as the commission has developed a carrot and stick strategy.

” We must ensure we have a good relationship with all the entities we regulate. Most regulated entities do not comply with the rules and regulations, terms and conditions of their licenses .So we want to make them  understand and make adjustments on our own side. Therefore the commission’s has developed a carrot and stick strategy

She explained that the carrot strategy is “when you try to persuade, explain and make them understand, the impact and punishment when not complied with. While the Stick strategy is when you sanction an operator for infractions when the Carrot strategy has failed”.

She further said the commission would only apply the stick strategy when the carrot strategy fails, as the commission cannot keep persuading especially when the infractions could lead to damage of lives and properties.

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