Telecom Subscribers May Receive Compensation - NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has constituted a committee for the compensation of subscribers by digital mobile operators for poor quality of services.

The Director of Consumer Affairs, NCC, Mrs. Maryam Bayi, said this at the NCC Day at the ongoing Abuja International Trade Fair being hosted by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture.

Bayi also said that the regulatory agency had directed mobile operators to install devices that would filter unsolicited text messages being sent to subscribers by third parties and marketing agents.

Members of the committee are drawn from across the spectrum of industry stakeholders and are expected to advise the regulatory agency on the modalities for compensating subscribers who bear the brunt of poor quality of services rendered by the mobile operators.

Some subscribes had objected to the propriety of the fines that NCC imposed on mobile operators in the past instead of asking them to compensate the subscribers who suffered as a result of the poor services.

Bayi said the fines were paid into the coffers of government, adding that a new committee that would determine the propriety and modality of compensation to the subscribers had been set up.

According to her, the presentation made by mobile operators showed that some third parties were responsible for most unsolicited text messages for which subscribers had been complaining to the regulatory agency.

To tackle this menace, she said the NCC had directed the mobile operators to install devices that could filter such messages.

Bayi said some of the messages were for the marketing of Value Added Services rendered by the mobile operators.

To control these from constituting a nuisance, she said the regulator had set a time bound for the operators, which had been barred from sending unsolicited text messages to subscribers between 8pm and 8am.

This means that messages emanating from mobile operators to market their services and promotions should never be sent earlier than 8am or later than 8pm.

Bayi advised subscribers to always explore different channels open to them to seek redress from the mobile operators, adding that they could also call the NCC's customers service line in case all avenues to get redress directly from the operators failed.

Speaking at the ceremony, Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said a new revolution in the industry was in the pipeline with the proposed licensing of infrastructure service providers.

Ojobo, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said the new infrastructure companies would bring about a tremendous increase in broadband penetration in the country.