Regulatory Body Unhappy With Indigenous Firms Over Incompetence

oke efagene

October 10, 2014 1:14 PM

The NCC has reacted to what it regarded as "incompetence" on the part of Nigerian-based telecom companies during a recent meeting in Lagos.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has expressed its displeasure with indigenous operators in the industry over ‘incompetence and culture of impunity’.

In response to the clamour for local content in the ICT sector during this year’s edition of the Association of telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Telecoms Executives and Regulator Forum at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, lamented that the Commission had in the past awarded contracts to indigenous companies only for them to collect money for the job and move on, adding that the Commission had had to resort to the use of security agencies to get the situation redressed.

According to BiztechAfrica, Juwah was particularly bitter that some of the companies that appeared on the surface to be reputable would turn around to disappoint the commission by getting the mobilization fee for the contract and walk away.

He said: “Some well-known Nigerian companies often disappoint. They think they can just collect money and walk away. While we are clamouring to give contracts to indigenous companies, they must do the work they are given because if they don’t do it, we will not hesitate to report then to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“There is still a lack of competence (in indigenous companies). We must develop the culture of executing projects and not walking away after collecting money.”

The EVC also blamed the inability of the regulator to complete the process that would have produced the first two licecees of infrastructure providers (Infarcos) on the fear of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that is ravaging parts of the West African sub-region.

He lamented that the NCC was already behind schedule on its plans to accelerate the processes that would lead to the realisation of the goals of the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

He said the Commission will adopt the Open Access Model while seven Infracos, one each for the six geo-political zones of the country while the seventh would serve Lagos would be licensed to help drive the dream of the National Broadband Council.

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