NCC urges licensees to comply with regulatory framework

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged its licensees to comply
with applicable regulatory instruments of the commission to ensure quality service and consumer protection.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja
at the “Meet the Regulator Forum’’ with “Promoting Regulatory Compliance Through Dialogue” as its theme.

Danbatta, represented by Mr Sunday Dare, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, said that the commission would continue to insist on full and uncompromising compliance with all regulatory instruments,
particularly in the areas of quality of service, consumer protection and fair competition in relevant communication markets.

He said “we will also insist on sound internal governance along the lines, detailed in the code of Corporate Governance for the industry.

“These are our minimum expectation, and I trust that we can continue to count on your cooperation in this regard.”

Danbatta said that following the commission’s mandate, NCC developed the strategic vision of being “a responsive, world-class communication regulatory organisation.

“It is true that our efforts in this direction have been globally acclaimed, but we have no doubts that we can only continue to pursue this vision by effectively meeting the aspirations of our key stakeholders represented here.

“We should ask ourselves: is the `operator-regulator partnership’ healthy enough to sustain successful operations in the industry?.

“So, we should ask ourselves as regulatory professionals if we are working with the regulator to prepare our industry for the future.

“How do we expect the regulator to facilitate successful innovation when we have not been faithful to our existing obligations?.”

The NCC boss told the participants that the commission would look forward to feedback from them on specific areas that could improve the commission as this was important as they collectively take the industry to greater height.

Mrs Yetunde Akinloye, the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC, said that the forum was to enable the commission to meet different stakeholders in the telecommunication industry to understand how the commission’s processes run.

She said that the forum was to ensure better working relationship with all the entities the commission regulates.

She added that “some of these regulated entities are not complying with rules and regulations, terms and conditions of their licence, and the laws that set up the industry.

“This is why we brought them to this forum because we don’t want to be seen as a regulator that is always coming down hard and sanctioning.

“So, we want them to understand us and make adjustments.”

One of the participant at the forum, Mr Adeshola Yakub, the Technical Manager, Solid Interconnectivity Services Ltd, said that the forum was engaging and informative.

Yakub said that compliance was an important part required of the licensees, adding that such forum would educate the licensees

on the commission’s expectations.