The Nation Newspaper

Tag: telecoms

SIM deactivation: Anger as subscribers storm telecoms offices

From Agege to Ajangbadi, from Surulere to Shomolu, from Ogba to Ikeja, Lekki to Ajah and finally to Fatai Atere Way, Ladipo, Lagos, the story is the same—huge crowd of frustrated customers of all the major carriers in the country-MTN, Airtel, Glo and Etisalat, shouting and wondering why their service providers should subject them to needless stress of doing their subscriber identity module (SIM) registration again.

A subscriber who spoke with our reporter at Ikeja, complained bitterly that he was shocked that more than 10 years after using his SIM for practically everything possible, he could suddenly be cut off without the slightest courtesy.

The man who introduced himself simply as Chukwudi, said when he bought his SIM card about 10 years ago, compulsory SIM registration had not been introduced, adding when the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) directed that all SIM cards be registered he complied.

“I am shocked at the turn of things now. It is a shock that I have been deactivated because when I did it, I got confirmation from my service provider that my SIM had been registered. My mobile phone is my office. I receive and pay money to my clients through my phone. As a businessman, it is the link between my customers and I so for my service provider to just yank me off the network is embarrassing, you can only imagine how devastating the experience has been,” he said.

Mojeed Adelekan who came along with his wife recalled how the family had to hurriedly abandon their kids at home when they both received text messages from their carriers. According to him, he and his wife have been standing since 8am in order to do their SIM registration update, lamenting that the rude security men and officials of his telco were not helping matters either.

“I am here because I received a text that they want to block my line. Even a friend of mine called me this morning to tell me that I should call him with another number because his service provide wants to block his line. That is why we both came here together to register our lines.

“For over three hours now, we have been here and we have not been able to do anything. Now they even said there is no more forms. I have been using this line for over seven years now. And back then, I bought the SIM for N35,000. When I bought it then, there was nothing like SIM registration. But three years later, I registered my line. I even did it thrice and got messages that I had been registered. And now I am very surprised to see the text that says that if I did not register my SIM it would be blocked. And many people have called me to tell me that their lines have been blocked.

In Ibadan, hundreds of telecom subscribers also besieged the MTN office at the Mobil Area, expressing outrage over the provider’s registration exercise.

They said the provider had sent text messages to them to visit their centres to complete their mobile registration or lose their mobile lines. The said the manner in which the registration exercise was being carried out by MTN was inhuman.

Dr Luis Oluwadamilola, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said he was at the MTN office based on the message sent to him to complete his registration.

Oluwadamilola said he had visited the MTN office four times and had not been able to register his line.

He said that he ran away the last time he came to the MTN office because he met mobile policemen there and felt there was no reason to endanger his life.

“I don’t think there is any justification for what we are witnessing here.

“If it is a directive of the Nigeria Communications Commission, then the telecom providers should have increased the numbers of staff to attend to customers for an easy exercise.

“I bought this line for N60, 000 the first week the telecom provider began services in Nigeria and I have been recharging the line since then.

“So, why should they be treating me like a job applicant?

“Considering my profession and holding up here is a calamitous situation because I don’t know what will happen to my patients while here,’’ he said.

Similarly, Mr Gbenga Opadotun, the Chairman, Oyo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), told NAN that the development was disheartening.

“I got a text message from MTN this morning for registration of my SIM card and on getting here I met over 1,000 people waiting helplessly with no one to attend to them.

“MTN is a South African company and doing this to Nigerians is heart rending. We are customers who patronise them and pay a stiff price at that.

“I feel very sad and I will like to urge the appropriate authorities to call MTN to order.

“ We are their customers and should be treated with respect and dignity,’’ the visibly angry NUJ chairman said.

NAN reports that all efforts to get a staff of the MTN in Ibadan to comment on the development proved abortive as none of them was willing to speak.

A source at the NCC headquarters in Abuja, however, told NAN that the commission gave the directive to telecom providers on noticing that some subscribers had not registered their lines.

The source, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak, said NCC ordered the providers to get their subscribers registered or be fined N200, 000 per unregistered but active SIM card.

Also, subscribers from Abia State have called on the owners and management of telecommunications operators in the country to establish more re-validation and registration centers in the commercial city.

Some respondents who spoke to our correspondent when he visited some of the MTN outlets in the commercial hub of Abia State said the call for the establishment of more re-validation centers have become necessary in order to accommodate the overwhelming population of its subscribers and to also reduce the stress they (residents) were passing through.

September 4, 2015
‘Improved telecoms services my priority’

The newly appointed Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communcations Commission, NCC, Professor Umaru Damabatta, has promised to address lingering poor telecom services in the country.

Prof Danbatta would, however, be in acting capacity, pending the confirmation of his appointment by the Senate.

He visited the commission’s headquarters in Abuja weekend where he told anxious workers that improved telecoms services across the country would be his priority.

Prof Danbatta also said he would use his experience in the industry to improve access, affordability and availability of quality service in the telecommunications industry.

The new executive vice chairman, who majored in electronic engineering further stated that the NCC under his management would maintain the edge which it has over other regulatory agencies.

Prof. Danbatta who has an experience in the telecoms regulatory industry where he served as the vice president of the NCC owned Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) admitted that there were challenges in the telecom industry but that the challenges are surmountable with the application of the resources available.

“We will bring to bear the resources in the telecommunication industry and use it judiciously “, he noted.

Professor Danbatta was appointed last week by President Mohamadu Buhari and his appointment is expected to bring about a new vista of robust regulation in the industry.

He was acting vice-chancellor of Kano University of Science & Technology, Wudil. He takes over from Dr. Eugene Juwah, whose five year tenure ended last July.

August 10, 2015
‘Poor telecoms service quality unacceptable’

The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Eugene Juwah has said the poor telecoms service quality operators are offering subscribers is unacceptable to the Commission, adding that the regulator will continue to do the needful to achieve the highest degree of service quality in the country.

Juwah, who spoke at the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) forum at the University of Lagos, Akoka said, he was worried by the development, adding that the Commission had summoned several meetings with the operators to express customers’ dissatisfaction with a view to improving the situation.

Represented by the Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, he, however, said there are challenges which must first be addressed before service quality would be improved.

Those challenges include but are not limited to inadequate power supply, multiple taxation and regulations, vandalism of telecom infrastructure, right of way (RoW) challenges, and infrastructure deficit among others.

“Only the elimination of some or all of these will provide the critical success factors in finally eradicating quality of service challenges,” Juwah said, adding that the regulator is not complacent over the issue.

During the public hearing held by the National Assembly in 2008, power was considered to have contributed more than 40 per cent to service quality challenges.

Telecoms depend on power to run 24/7. Just as individuals in Nigeria generate their power, so has telcos being generating much of the power it utilises.

The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has put the estimated cost of running two generators in each of the over 25,000 base transmission stations (BTS) in at about N5 billion monthly. ATCON says while service provider spends 80 per cent operating expenditure (OPEX) on power generation, in Malawi, it is just some five per cent. This captures the explanation as the service providers would have been in a position to channel more resources to tackling the issues of service quality.

Juwah said : “We have a very nagging issue of regulations and taxes awaiting the telecom operators at different levels of government. Some of these regulations are made outside of the purview of the telecom regulator. There are states and local governments where telecom infrastructure is seen as fertile ground for improving internally generated revenue as these infrastructures must be available to make services possible. In some areas, state governments, local governments, or even some federal government agencies have had to force a close down of base stations with the implication of disconnecting many localities from the network thereby adding to the challenge”

On RoW, he lamented that governments at various levels, individuals or communities, prevent the service providers from installing equipment without which there will not be good quality of services.

“Some of us may not be aware. But the truth is that for almost five years, the Federal Capital Territory Administration stopped issuance of permits to telecom service providers to BTS on account of fear of defacing the city. Yet, residents would expect services to be of high quality,” he lamented.

Vandalism of equipment has become common where criminals vandalise expensive transmission lines laid with fibre optics or where road constructions or similar situation results in cutting off transmission cables with multiple negative effects on service quality.

June 4, 2015
Poor telecoms service quality unacceptable, says NCC

the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Eugene Juwah has said the poor telecoms service quality operators are offering subscribers is unacceptable to the Commission, adding that the regulator will continue to do the needful to achieve the highest degree of service quality in the country.

Juwah who spoke at the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) forum held at the University of Lagos, Akoka said, he was worried by the development, adding that the Commission has summoned several meetings with the operators to express customers’ dissatisfaction with a view to improving the situation.

Represented by the Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, he however said there are challenges which must first be addressed before service quality would be improved.

Those challenges include but are not limited to inadequate power supply, multiple taxation and regulations, vandalism of telecom infrastructure, right of way (RoW) challenges, and infrastructure deficit among others.

“Only the elimination of some or all of these will provide the critical success factors in finally eradicating quality of service challenges,” Juwah said, adding that the regulator is not complacent over the issue.

During the public hearing held by the National Assembly in 2008, power was considered to have contributed more than 40 per cent to service quality challenges.

Telecoms depend on power to run 24/7. Just as individuals in Nigeria generate their power, so has telcos being generating much of the power it utilizes.

The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has put the estimated cost of running two generators in each of the over 25,000 base transmission stations (BTS) in at about N5 billion monthly. ATCON says while service provider spends 80 per cent operating expenditure (OPEX) on power generation, in Malawi, it is just some five per cent. This captures the explanation as the service providers would have been in a position to channel more resources to tackling the issues of service quality.

Juwah said : “We have a very nagging issue of regulations and taxes awaiting the telecom operators at different levels of government. Some of these regulations are made outside of the purview of the telecom regulator. There are states and local governments where telecom infrastructure is seen as fertile ground for improving internally generated revenue as these infrastructures must be available to make services possible. In some areas, state governments, local governments, or even some federal government agencies have had to force a close down of base stations with the implication of disconnecting many localities from the network thereby adding to the challenge”

On RoW, he lamented that governments at various levels, individuals or communities, prevent the service providers from installing equipment without which there will not be good quality of services.

“Some of us may not be aware. But the truth is that for almost five years, the Federal Capital Territory Administration stopped issuance of permits to telecom service providers to BTS on account of fear of defacing the city. Yet, residents would expect services to be of high quality,” he lamented.

Vandalism of equipment has become common where criminals vandalise expensive transmission lines laid with fibre optics or where road constructions or similar situation results in cutting off transmission cables with multiple negative effects on service quality.

He said it is common for comparisons to be made between the country and other parts of the world where service quality is great, adding that in making such comparison, it is too often forgotten that there is infrastructure deficit in the country. While monopolies in the developed parts of the world made enormous investments in infrastructure to sustain their markets, Nigeria was not as lucky as the fortunes of Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) was mismanaged.

“The dearth of fixed landline services brought about enormous pressure on mobile services which affected quality given the rate of subscription. Our situation resulted in mobile services providing the triple role of office, home and mobility services. While some countries such as the United Kingdom with less geographical spread have more than 50,000 base stations, Nigeria has about 25,000. So, the issue of infrastructure deficit in a country like Nigeria is bound to affect quality of service.

“Sometimes when the regulator reels out some of these challenges, especially those outside its immediate control, it is misinterpreted as giving excuses for the service providers. But as a regulator who must show clear understanding of the issues, we refused to play the ostrich,” Juwah said.

May 21, 2015
Glo gives telecoms package to aviation workers

The workers of the Federal Ministry of Aviation have been connected to a special telecoms package by Globacom. The package will assist in the effective delivery of aviation services through seamless, quality and cost-effective communication with one another.

The package is uniquely designed to cater to the needs of the ministry and will also enable aviation workers to communicate with their families at near zero cost.

Its Head, Public Sector, Mr. Tunde Amunikoro, said at the launch of the package in Abuja that: “Communication is key to efficient service delivery and speed and that is why we in Glo are excited to partner with the Aviation Ministry on the special lines. We believe the efficiency of the Aviation Sector is going to move several notches higher with this service.”

He explained that the essence of the special package is to enable the workers to send or receive alerts and reach out to critical stakeholders, particularly those in distress, without being encumbered by the non-availability of recharge cards, even in the remotest part of the country.

He further explained that those who receive the lines are only required to pay a relatively low monthly service rental after which they will be able to communicate with all those who have the special lines, including their families, without incurring extra cost on airtime.

Amunikoro said family members were included in the package to ensure that, apart from on-the-job effectiveness, all the workers of the Ministry who are on the special package lines will have peace of mind as they can remain connected at no extra cost with their families from anywhere in the country.

While launching the package at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, venue of the event, the Minister for Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka said the special package would make work easier for all staff.

December 18, 2014
Quest for quality telecoms services

More than a decade after digital telephony came to Nigeria, access to telecoms services has been liberalised across all the strata of the society. While active subscribers’ figure is approaching 135 million, teledensity has reached 92.42 per cent. However, poor quality of service has remained a big challenge. LUCAS AJANAKU X-rays the network enhancement efforts of Globacom, the only wholly indigenous operator in the country.

For the telecommunication sector, it has been a story of gloom, boom, doom and the country is earnestly hoping for the return to the era of boom, particularly in quality service delivery.

The moribund Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) signposted the era of gloom when the national carrier served about 150 million Nigerians with 400,000 connected lines as at October 2000. The nation, however, ecstatically eased into the era of boom with the licensing of global system for mobile communication (GSM) to operators.

Millions of Nigerians, who never thought they could own their private telephone lines, became proud owners of phones.

For Nigeria, the boom has not only been in the access to telecoms service, it has also been in the massive inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Eugene Juwah, said the sector has attracted FDI above $25 billion. According to him, the potential of the industry to grow the economy is almost limitless.

Juwah is, however, forthright to admit that despite the investments by the operators, quality of service (QoS) levels have been unsatisfactory. Indeed, the excitement had since paled into pain for many subscribers with dropped calls and other inconveniences. Infrastructure of virtually all the key players had buckled under the pressure exerted by the ease of access to services. They were overstretched. The NCC had to wield the big stick to restore the era of boom when most telcos fell short of meeting all the key performance indicators (KPIs) it set with the buy-in of the telcos.

Juwah has equally come out on several occasions to admit that there are a number of peculiar challenges that make it difficult for operators to operate at optimum level in Nigeria. Some of these challenges include inadequate power, equipment vandalism, equipment theft and multiple taxation, which leads to a situation wherein Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) belonging to telecom operators are routinely shut by various agencies of government.

They are huge challenges that he, however, said the regulatory body was working with the supervising ministry and relevant agencies and arms of government to resolve.

Justifiably so, the operators have been lampooned by subscribers who want nothing but good quality service delivery. The operators knew that notwithstanding the challenges, they must rise above the occasion to satisfy their customers to remain in business. They have repeatedly assured the nation that they are doing all within their capacity to significantly improve telecom service. Several billions dollars have been poured into the sector by the operators who are eager to make a positive change as soon as possible.

Nigeria’s only national telecom carrier, Globacom has, particularly, been outstanding in this regard. The operator has tried to make its own network expansion and modernisation project as transparent as possible. The operator called journalists together at the commencement of the project and has called journalists together again several times since then to update them on the progress made.

On one of such occasions, the Group Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, said the project was being embarked upon to put the issue of flagging quality of service to rest. He said the company was determined to achieve this even if the task looked daunting.

He recalled that Globacom commenced operation with no support infrastructure in 2003 and built one of the fastest growing telecom infrastructure in Africa. He said Globacom delighted in doing what many might consider impossible.

Jameel recalled that Globacom shattered the myth surrounding per second billing in Nigeria by introducing it at its launch, when other operators insisted it was impossible. He added that the company had since gone ahead to blaze the trail in other areas.

He said Globacom launched commercial operation with 2.5G network, which made it possible to provide General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and products and services running on the infrastructure which was then the most advanced in the country, such as mobile internet, mobile banking and BlackBerry.

He said Globacom was the first to introduce 3G Plus in Nigeria and, indeed, West Africa. This enabled the telco to provide video calling, high speed internet (HSI), mobile TV and video-on-demand to its subscribers.

Globacom remains the only operator with an individually-owned submarine cable called Glo 1, which has started addressing Africa’s internet bandwidth problem.

He added that Glo was the first and only operator to introduce the beautiful and environment-friendly Palm Tree base stations, which adorns the Lagos Lagoon, among other places across the country.

Why build new network?

When the telco clocked 10 last year, it began a massive network expansion project being implemented by leading technology infrastructure companies, Huawei, Ericsson and ZTE. The project entailed swapping of old base stations (BTS) with new ones and the modernisation of existing infrastructure.

According to Jameel, the swapping of old BTS in Lagos is 90 per cent complete. He said the project is expected to be completed before the end of this month, promising that subscribers would witness improved network experience upon its completion.

“Ogun State swapping is fully completed, while Edo State is about 60 per cent completed. The swapping project has also started in neighbouring Delta State. This is in addition to Abuja, Oyo, Osun, and AkwaIbom states. Port Harcourt and several parts of Lagos including Lekki, Ikorodu, Agbara and Otta have also been completed,” he said, promising that by the time the project is completed, it will have swapped old components on the network across the nation with state-of-the-art network software and hardware. “In short, we are building a sparkling new network,” Jameel enthused.

Its Head, Operations, Bisi Koleosho, who briefed the media on updates, said the telco would soon achieve its target of 90 per cent 3G coverage, the first in the industry, making it possible for its data subscribers to experience significant service enhancement. The project is expected to be completed this year.

Service improvement is being felt in various parts of the country. Koleosho promised that the improvement would continue.

Speaking during an interactive session, Jameel said: “Having played a prominent role in the first telecom revolution in the country, Globacom is ready to lead Nigeria into the second revolution, which will be an explosive ICT broadband growth across Nigeria in the next three decades.

“Globacom will be the biggest player in the second telecommunication revolution in Nigeria. We are converting every cell site in Nigeria into broadband. Nigerians will enjoy the massive transformation on the Glo network after the expansion and modernisation exercise.”

The project covers swapping, upgrade, and overhaul of network infrastructure, as well as building of new switches and construction of additional 4,000 km of optic fibre cable (OFC) to complement the existing facility, which is among the most extensive private fibre networks in Africa. The company’s 10,000km OFC network is also being expanded with IP MPLS and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network to provide capacity and route protection. It will also ensure constant (24/7) connectivity.

The massive project, according to Jameel, also includes the setting up of three new call centres in Port Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos to take care of vast increase in subscriber figures and upgrade of the radio access network which will ensure that data customers enjoy unparalleled speed and reliability.

He said the brand new network Globacom is building would be congestion-free, with reduced call drops. The Lagos microwave network is also being transformed into a full internet protocol Network (IPN) to meet future data requirements.

International services

Glo says it is enhancing its reputation as one of the biggest voice and data carriers in Africa. It has deepened its roaming services offering with the addition of over 100 leading network partners across the world in the last one year. Subscribers to Glo, who are on the postpaid platform, can enjoy seamless roaming services in almost every part of the world as Glo has interconnectivity arrangements with over 430 partners in 176 countries. Thus, Glo is the network in Nigeria with the largest international postpaid roaming footprint.

Glo has, similarly, extended its prepaid roaming to more destinations as the service is available in most major destinations where it is partnering with over 80 leading networks. Jameel added that Glo’s GPRS roaming is also one of the largest in Africa. The service, which enables data roaming for mobile phones, laptops, iPads, Blackberry and android handsets, is available in 115 countries comprising all major travel destinations.

Having pioneered per second billing (PSB) and led the revolution to make telephony affordable to many Nigerians, expectations are high that Glo will make the nation proud again with its new network.

August 15, 2014
7 ways to reduce call cost
Many Nigerians are worried about the high amount of money they spend to make calls daily. But there are ways to reduce this cost as highlighted below by Akinpelu Femi.
- Check the tariff plan most suitable for you ;
Most times network subscribers just recharge without knowing the tariff plan they operate. A subscriber should check it network service provider to know which is best applicable to subscribe. This can be done by calling your customer care service.
- Look for competitive call rates amongst networks
Find out from friends or relatives which network is cheaper to operate i.e. which is most suitable for your most preferred callers. For example, MTN have a prepaid plan called family and friends, it allows you to call 10 MTN numbers of your choice at just 10 kobo per second. Also for others like Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat.
- Take advantage of network recharge bonus ;
It is interesting to know that some networks operator’s gives bonuses to subscribers when they recharge a certain amount of airtime. For example, Etisalat network have the double recharge option.
- Use free call opportunity
If you need to talk for a long time of about four hours or less, all networks do free night call but the terms and conditions varies. Glo and Etisalat requires that a subscriber must recharge at least 100 naira in a week to enjoy the service for seven days, MTN requires that you must have a balance of 100 naira to use the service, and Airtel network requires you to make use at least 100 naira in a day to use the service.

Some networks have plans that award subscribers free seconds depending on how well they receive calls.
- Make use of social media
You do not necessarily need to always make calls. You can choose to send SMS, or if your mobile is internet enabled you could opt for chat applications. For example, Whatsapp mobile application, Facebook chat, e-mails e.t.c

There are some call applications that are free of charge, so far the recipients also has the application on her device, you make your call free e.g. Viber, BBM and Facebook call.

You may also want to seek a cheaper and better means of communication with your loved ones abroad; you can try Skype application on mobile and P.C.
- Subscribe to more than one network
This enables a person who makes high volume of phone calls, to subscribe to the network that charges per- second billing (which is usually at a much reduced rate) to make more calls and pay less. And at the same get subscribed to another telephone network, which offers other special benefit(s), probably on data for browsing, bonus for SMS, and so on.

Take advantage of the Home Zone offers

Home zones are the locations where individuals persons spend most hours of the day, and these locations are registered with the telephone numbers. So every call from that registered location (zone), the bill is charged at a special low rate.
August 10, 2014
Nigeria’s telecoms service quality better than London’s, Dubai’s, says NCC

The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah yesterday took a swipe at the barrage of telecoms customers’ complaints in the country over service quality, saying the quality of service (QoS) in the country is one of the best in the world.

Speaking at the 75th Telecoms Consumer Parliament in L:agos, Juwah said he just came back from Central London and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) insisting that the QoS in those two cities were not better than that offered by telcos in the country.

According to him, the QoS provided by players in both the aviation and banking sectors of the economy were worse than the one offered in the telecoms sector yet not much noise is heard about that.

He said: “I have heard about these complaints about quality of service in Nigeria. The quality of service in Nigeria is not the worst. The quality of service in this country is better than that of Central London, better than Dubai. Wireless telephony technology is rather complex. You cannot absolutely do without drop calls.”

Juwah who was reacting to the explanation of Corporate Service Executive at MTN, Akinwale Goodluck that QoS get degraded during wet season because of whirlwind, said while he will neither agree nor controvert that position, the technology of global service for mobile (GSM) communication is complex.

He explained that it is not within the mandate of the regulator to compel operators to give financial compensation to customers for poor QoS, adding that its mandate is to ensure that customers get fair deal by ensuring that they get value for their money.

He said the NCC will continue to sanction operators that fail to meet the specified key performance indicators (KPIs) while money paid from the fines will be paid to the coffers of the Federal Government for appropriation since the regulator does not have the power to “appropriate”.

He said customers that feel so aggrieved about the QoS issue should either go to the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) or the court to seek redress.

Goodluck said the operators were doing their best at ensuring improved QoS. He said all the operators have currently engaged all the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to do network optimisation.

He lamented the inability of the operators to tame the excesses of groups and other government agencies that invade base transmission stations (BTS) to decommission them, adding that developments such as that will continue to impact negatively on service quality.

According to him, three of the operators are currently having issues with the government of Enugu State where their facilities have remained shut-down.

He lamented the impunity with which people go and shut down BTS, insisting that nobody goes to Kainji Dam and shut down its operations yet telecoms infrastructure are as critical to national development as power infrastructure.

Speaking on the occasion, its Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Mrs. Maryam Bayi, decried the low response time to customers’ complaints by the network operators.

She identified common complaints to include unauthorised text messages/telemarketing, ‘credit’ disappearance, drop calls, customers care centre monitoring, inaccessibility of customer care help lines, unlawful deduction of credit for value added services not subscribed to, poor network service unavailability of service and running of adverts for promos without obtaining the mandatory regulatory approvals.

July 11, 2014
Reforms shake up Mexico Telecoms

Mexican telecoms reforms are forcing the break-up of billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil empire, Latin America’s biggest telecoms company.

Mr Slim, one of the world’s richest men, says he will bring America Movil’s market share below 50 per cent.

Its Telmex fixed line subsidiary has 80 per cent of the Mexican market and its mobile Telcel operation 70 per cent.

The reforms would make America Movil in its present form a dominant player, subject to strict new rules.

They would include being forced to share infrastructure with rivals such as Spain’s Telefonica.

In a move aimed at avoiding this, it will present its restructuring to the country’s new telecoms watchdog, the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT).

The much-delayed legislation reforming telecoms and broadcasting is expected to get final approval from Congress this week.

It was introduced by President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office 20 months ago promising to boost competition in the Mexican economy.

The new rules will also affect Televisa, the world’s biggest provider of Spanish-language content, which has more than 60 per cent of the free-to-air TV market.

Although America Movil has not yet said what it would sell off in order to reduce its market share, it has said it will split its infrastructure business and cellphone towers away from Telcel into a separate business.

Mexico’s Transport and Communications Ministry said in a statement: “This decision could transform competition in the telecommunications sector, with improved quality and better prices for services to end users.”

If America Movil does cut its market share below 50 per cent, it will be allowed into other markets, such as the pay-TV sector, which it is barred from at the moment.

July 11, 2014
Season of sanctions in telecoms

Another season of sanction has hit the telecommunication industry in Nigeria. The recent spate of sanctions imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission on the big mobile telecommunications operators has caused a stir in the telecom industry. In this report, Bukola Afolabi looks at the reasons, the previous sanctions and what needs to be done to address poor telecom service delivery.

Recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued fresh sanctions against three of the leading mobile telecommunications operators namely: MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria and Globacom for poor quality of services (QoS) and for not meeting up with the key performance indicators (KPIs).

The performance of mobile operators in meeting the Key Performance Indicators set by the Nigerian Communications Commission will determine their fate, the regulatory agency had earlier said.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, and Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, had threatened that the regulatory agency would impose sanctions on digital mobile operators if poor services persisted till the end of the year.

Johnson had said, “We are concerned that the poor quality issues still abound. I am inundated with complaints about quality of service and the seemingly uncaring attitude of our telecoms operators to resolve these issues on a regular basis. We will continue, through the industry regulator, to apply sanctions when operators fail to meet the required standards in terms of service quality breaches.”

“Consumers cannot continue to bear the burden of poor service delivery. Though we are mindful that the operators are facing issues in deploying or maintaining infrastructure, we believe that the operators can do better in delivering acceptable quality of service, which they are clearly not doing now.”

The Commission sanctioned the three major mobile network operators for various breaches. The sanctions were contained in separate letters dated February 19, 2014, addressed to each of the affected MNOs. NCC asked Globacom, MTN and Airtel to pay N277.5 million, N185 million and N185 million respectively for the month of January.

Before the latest fines, in December 2013, the Dr Eugene Juwah-led NCC issued a ‘Notice of Intention to Sanction’ to all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to improve Quality of Service and meet set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) by December 31, 2013 or face regulatory intervention

Previous warning

Last year during a press briefing in Lagos, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said: “NCC has announced, and I repeat here, from December 31 any network operator that does not meet previously agreed targets on quality of service, QOS, indicators will be immediately prevented from further expansion of their subscriber base until further notice.

“In other words, they will not be allowed to sell SIM cards to new subscribers until quality of service targets are met.”

Juwah who blamed poor service quality on the operators, said “several factors lead to poor service quality, including environmental factors as currently being peddled by telecoms operators, but as a regulator, I do not think environmental factors are the major causes of poor service quality on our networks.”

According to him, “It is not that the big operators are not investing. They are investing quite well, but the challenge is that as they are investing, they are loading up their networks, such that the investment achieved is lost through over-loading of the networks with additional subscribers and applications. What they should do is to make the capacity of their investments commensurate with the loading up of their networks.”

“This is the reason why NCC decided to impose fines on them. We want to maintain a stable network, because the pride of Nigeria today is that we are the fastest growing telecommunications networks in the world, and we must have to maintain that status through proper regulation,” Juwah insisted.

Past sanctions

This is not the first time the regulator is issuing ‘Notice of Intention to Sanction’ or even applying the sanctions. In fact, this is the third time in less than two years that the NCC is applying sanctions and fining the operators. In May 2012, NCC fined all the four Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) operators including MTN, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat nearly N1.17 billion for failing to meet up with the minimum standard of quality of service (QoS) for the months of March and April 2012.

Airtel, MTN, Glo, and Etisalat were fined N270 million, N360 million, N180 million and N360 million respectively. The sanctions were communicated to the mobile operators in letters dated May 10, 2012 and states that the four GSM operators failed to keep up with the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as specified in Schedule 1 Table 2 of the Quality of Service Regulations 2012.

The sanctions were communicated through letters jointly signed by U. Maska, Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement and Josephine Amuwa, Director, Legal and Regulatory Services on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah.

It said, “The monitoring report indicated that your Company had failed to meet the minimum standard of quality of service including the key performance Indicators (KPI’s) as specified in Schedule 1 Table 2 of the Quality of Service Regulations 2012.”

Airtel was fined a total of N270 million, N15 million and N2.5 million was for each parameter for a service contravened throughout the months of March and April respectively. NCC had directed Airtel to pay to the Commission on or before May 25, 2012, N270 million or attract further N2.5 million per day as long as the contravention persists.

Glo was fined a total sum of N180 million. N15 million and N2.5 million was for each parameter for a service contravened throughout the months of March and April 2012 respectively and was expected to pay up N180 million on or before May 25, 2012 or risk additional N2.5 million fine per day as long as the contravention persists.

Etisalat and MTN were fined a total of N360 million each. N15 million and N2.5 million was for each parameter for service contravened throughout the months of March and April respectively. NCC directed Etisalat and MTN to pay to the Commission on or before May 21 and May 25, 2012 respectively N360 million each or attract further N2.5 million per day as long as the contravention persists.

It was like a showdown between the NCC and the operators, but after several weeks of trading blames, the NCC decided to lower the standard of its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), with which it uses to measure network performances. Based on that decision on KPI, the operators reluctantly paid the fine, several weeks after the fine was imposed. No details were, however, given that the operators paid the daily penalty.

A breakdown of the combined N1.17 billion fine showed that MTN Nigeria Communications and Etisalat, paid the sum of N360 million, each while Airtel paid the sum of N270 million. Globacom paid the sum of N180 million.

NCC, however, advised the operators to take advantage of the lowered standards in its KPIs, to maintain stable network quality, and warned operators to either maintain better service quality on their networks before December 2013, or face another round of sanction.

Reasons for poor telecom service

Chief executive officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, laid the blame for recent poor telecom services on Nigeria’s patchy power infrastructure which has long been an obstacle for the country’s telecom operators.

“In a country with about 25,000 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and a need for around twice that number over the next 10 years, the power infrastructure challenge is especially nagging.

“The power costs of a site connected to the power grid are only about 1/6th those of a fuel-powered site, but only about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of BTS are connected to the electric power grid. The implications of such absence of reliable power infrastructure are far-reaching. Nigerian operators spend around N8 billion to N10 billion a year in diesel costs to power up their base stations.”

He said further “Such costs account for about 60 percent of operators’ network costs. Primarily because of such fuel costs, average network costs in Nigeria are twice to thrice higher than in a number of other African markets. The multiple taxations of telecoms operators represent another challenge facing the industry. It was once merely a side effect of Nigeria’s federal structure and the inherent risk of overlapping.”

Ogunsanya noted that there are other issues bordering on multiple regulations, frequent fibre-cut, community issues and other problems that are making it difficult for the common man to experience the desired quality of service.

“Recently too, we saw cases of flooding and activities of terrorist groups that adversely hampered quality of service”, he said.

Subscribers’ want compensations

On his part, President, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, Deolu Ogunbanjo, the hard fines that the NCC had adopted is only putting money in the pocket of the government and is leaving the Nigerian subscribers with nothing as even these fines will still be paid indirectly by the subscribers.

According to him, NATCOMS is advocating a soft fine such that will be of benefit to consumers, which can be achieved by asking the operators to give N10,000 worth of airtime to each subscriber on their network. This way, the subscriber gets the benefit of the fine.

Subscribers that spoke with The Nation were equally worried just like the regulator and the operators, that the issue of poor service quality still lingered, in spite of efforts made by government, regulators, and the operators to address it.

Mr. Johnson Dubem, a subscriber to MTN and Globacom said subscribers suffered a lot of challenges in telecoms services delivered in 2013.

According to him, subscribers ought to be treated nicely with the best service quality, because we spend our hard earned monies on recharge cards, yet service delivery is still poor.

Another subscriber, Mr Kalu Igwe said that the situation got worse during the last Yuletide season. “During Christmas celebrations, more people make calls and send text messages to their loved ones. Operators should know that they should expand their networks to accommodate increased volume of calls and text messages” this season, but they will not do so, he said.

According to him, “Every year we experience traffic jam on the networks and this year is not an exception. The operators have to address the situation now,”.

FG’s efforts

Worried by the slow pace of telecoms infrastructure rollout in the country, occasioned by high cost of Right of Ways (RoW) imposed by state governments, and the diverse levies imposed by government agencies, which is believed to be a major cause of poor service quality across networks, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson recently held a meeting with the Lagos State government at the Government House in Lagos, and telecoms operators were in attendance. At that meeting, the Lagos State government agreed to reduce telecoms charges in the state in order to allow for speedy rollout of telecoms infrastructure in the state.

ALTON, ATCON hit back

Some stakeholders in the industry condemned the NCC for imposing a fine of N647.5 million on Airtel, Globacom and MTN Nigeria, while lamenting that the regulator is only dancing round in circles.

They believe nothing good should be expected from the latest move, as it is not likely to achieve anything with these punitive measures just like its efforts were fruitless in 2012 when it imposed sanctions on all the operators.

The chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, an engineer, said by this action, the NCC was only shying away from its responsibilities.

The latest fine, he recalled, is the third time the NCC was imposing sanctions on operators and wondered if it had changed anything.

Also, he wondered whether it has any benefit on subscriber whom the regulator claims to be doing all these on their behalf, stressing that all the fines will go into the treasury of the Federal Government.

He accused the NCC of acting as a sole administrator, not caring about the general good of the industry, while playing to the gallery and highlighting only the negative things in the industry.

The President Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) ,Engr. Lanre Ajayi, said the action by the NCC was not only wrong, but unjustifiable.

According to him, it was very difficult to picture how sanctions can improve quality of service.

“It does not add on. We all know why there is poor quality of service. It is because of challenges and inhibitions on the way of operators so rather than impose sanctions, government should find ways to remove these impediments,” he said.

The ATCON boss maintained that the NCC imposed sanctions in 2012 and it did not yield any positive response and doubted if anything will change this time around.

NCC and constant resort to fines

Reuben Mouka, Head, Media and Publicity, NCC, said: “As part of NCC’s routine regulatory activities, it has collated statistics from the network operating centres of the operators in the month of January and discovered that the services provided by MTN, Airtel and Globacom fell short of the KPIs published in 2013. However, Etisalat was given a clean bill, having met all the established KPIs.”

According to him, some of the critical KPIs against which their services were evaluated include Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Traffic Channel Congestion TCHCONG, and Stand Alone Dedicated Channel Congestion (SDCONG).

Several of the stakeholders and operators said the frequent resort to fines to address the quality of services issues in the telecommunications sector has not helped matters. They argue that since the regulator started issuing fines, it has not addressed the real causes of the poor quality of services.

Vandalisation of telecom equipment

Telecom operators have lamented the heightened insecurity in some parts of the country which has limited their ability to carry out routine maintenance and emergency repairs. They have also deplored the continuous vandalism of telecom infrastructures as well as destruction of fibre cables by road construction companies causing the quality of service to drop.

According to Akinwale Goodluck, MTN’s Corporate Services Executive, the company remained committed to ensuring the best quality of service for its teeming customers. He said, “MTN continues to employ the greatest effort to overcome the infrastructural and environmental challenges that impede the delivery of consistently good quality of service.”

Emeka Oparah, Director, Corporate Communication and CSR, Airtel Nigeria said “We are still trying to come to terms with the fines, first as Airtel and second as a member of the telecom industry.”

Meeting with CPC after the sanction

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) recently summoned the chief executive officers of telecommunications companies operating in the country over complaints of poor services by consumers.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the Director-General, CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, said ways of addressing various consumer complaints arising from poor network and unsolicited services were discussed.

Others are unlawful deductions/wrong billings, exploitative automated services; unauthorised SIM swaps/line disconnection, as well as poor Internet and customer service.

She said, “I called the meeting of all the CEOs of the telecommunications operators in Nigeria to discuss issues that all Nigerian subscribers are aware of. The main issues that are of concern to Nigerian consumers are drop calls, truncated services, poor network services, unsolicited services, unlawful deductions/wrong billings, exploitative automated services and poor customer services. I commend the operators that attended. Some of them did not attend.

“However, I am glad to report that we had a fruitful deliberation. The telecoms operators have recognised that these are valid concerns. But the stand of the CPC is that consumers must get value for the money they pay for telecommunications services.”

At press time, The Nation learnt, that the affected telecos previously fined by the NCC had not only paid off the fines but restated their commitment to improve service delivery.

March 16, 2014