Regulator denies plans to ban Value Added Services (VAS)

folarin okunola

May 2, 2016 1:38 PM

Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the NCC, made this statement at a Consultative Forum on the Draft Regulatory Framework for the provision of Value Added Services

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta

Media reports reveal the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said that it has no plan to ban mobile advertisements which are send as Value Added Services (VAS) to subscribers through the network of mobile telephone operators.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the NCC, made this statement at a Consultative Forum on the Draft Regulatory Framework for the provision of Value Added Services, in the country, said also that the NCC did not intend to cripple the businesses of the VAS providers even though the Commission was concerned about subscribers’ complaints over unsolicited text messages from the operators.

According to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Danbatta said that the decision to regulate VAS providers’ hinges on the need to consolidate the gains of the telecoms sector, adding that the VAS segment is overdue for regulation as envisaged in the eight-point agenda of the Commission, particularly on the need to promote ICT innovation and investment opportunities.

READ: Telecom giant to invest $15 million in fibre optic network across Zambia

“Except we determined to develop and encourage quality local contents in Nigeria by rewarding content developers who as the major players in the VAS segment of the industry, our vision will be obstructed," he said.

The NCC boss pointed out that the task of regulating the industry remained a collective one, which is a moral duty of stakeholders stressing that value addition in the sector is essentially on the shoulders of the small and medium scales enterprises, SMEs.

He explained that the document’s principal focus was to encourage critical players participate in the VAS subsector by defining the roles and responsibilities of each player in a manner that is transparent, healthy and jointly beneficial, according to a Nigeria CommunicationsWeek report.

folarin okunola