Telecom consumers lament frequent network breakdowns

The telecom consumers vented their grievances with the service providers during the 9th edition of Consumer Town Hall Meeting tagged “Empowering Rural Telecom Consumers” organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) held in Omu Aran City Hall.With representatives of major telecom service providers in attendance, consumers equally advised the network providers to limit the number […]

The telecom consumers vented their grievances with the service providers during the 9th edition of Consumer Town Hall Meeting tagged “Empowering Rural Telecom Consumers” organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) held in Omu Aran City Hall.
With representatives of major telecom service providers in attendance, consumers equally advised the network providers to limit the number of text messages usually sent to their cell phones which do not have any impact on their life.
According to Mr. Oladele Adeyemi, in as much as the advent of mobile telecommunication has made communication easier in the society, it should not be an avenue for exploitation.
Another telecom consumer, Mr. Ganiu Salau urged service providers to improve on their services and be more open and transparent in their operation to avoid exploiting unsuspecting consumers.
Earlier, Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management of the NCC, Mr. Okechukwu Itanyi who spoke through the Head, Consumers’ Affairs Bureau, Dr. Femi Atoyebi assured that the commission would continue to mete out appropriate sanctions on erring service providers to goad them to improve their services.
Atoyebi who spoke with newsmen urged telecom consumers in the country to take advantage of NCC so that no service provider takes advantage of them just as he charged service providers to continue to “invest in infrastructure in order to improve the quality of their service”.
He said the commission’s strict regulations of telecom services in Nigeria had engendered healthy  competition among service providers and concomitantly forced down tariff.
Atoyebi said, “It is not true that NCC is impeding on the businesses of service providers. If anything NCC is facilitating the smooth running of their businesses across Nigeria. the NCC has made the ground to be level for all service providers.
“The NCC has facilitated conducive environment for telecom service providers to come in. So, if anything the NCC has prepared ground for these service providers to flourish. NCC is actually a partner in progress”.