NCC Urges Consumers to Protect Telecoms Infrastructure, Others

Emma Okonji

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said telecommunications’ consumers in Nigeria have a major role to play in complementing efforts being put in place to ensure effective protection of telecommunications infrastructure.

NCC made the assertion recently at a sensitisation programme it organised at Wannune, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State, insisting it will improve the quality of service delivery by the service providers.

According to the Commission, aside from the role of the law enforcement agencies in protecting telecoms infrastructure, the consumers, who are the subscribers and ultimate users of telecoms services, have an obligation to do everything to protect telecoms infrastructure in their environment. These included said, would include the base transceiver stations (BTS), the underground fibre optic cable, as well as associated infrastructure.

Addressing the audience, the Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Amina Shehu, decried the problem of vandalism caused to telecom infrastructure, which often result in poor quality of service delivery to the end users.

“One of the major challenges to quality of service that operators provide to you, is vandalism of telecoms infrastructure, such as Base Transceiver Stations (BTS). Others are theft, hostility from some host communities, which have continued to pose a major setback to the industry. Therefore, it is imperative for the public to regard telecoms facilities as collectively-owned infrastructure that are crucial and essential for the provision of efficient and acceptable telecom services. The more reason these facilities need to be adequately protected,” she urged.

While imploring the indigenes of Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State to ensure that they protect telecoms facilities in their community, Shehu, who was represented at the event by an Assistant Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Abubakar Usman, further enjoined the consumers to always alert law enforcement agencies close to them once they suspect any act of vandalism, theft or other suspicious activities directed at telecoms infrastructure, since such nefarious activities have implications for quality of service delivery in the communities.

Shehu underscored the centrality of telecommunications sector to the economy and she also informed the audience that in the last 15 years, telecom has been a major contributor to the nation’s economic growth and development. The Director Zonal Operations said the Commission would continue to collaborate with relevant agencies and keep sensitising the consumers on their role in ensuring the security of telecom infrastructure.

One issue Shehu discussed in her speech was the misinformation about Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) radiation emanating from telecommunications infrastructure, which she asserted was not harmful according to studies conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).