Subscribers seek improved internet services

By Lucas Ajanaku

 

Subscribers at the weekend urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to pay more attention to the quality of internet services provided by mobile network operators (MNOs) and internet service providers (ISPs).The subscribers lamented the slow speed and poor quality of services and sought an urgent regulatory fix to the problem.

Chairman, Section of Business Law, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ayuli Jemide, who gave a the keynote remarks during the virtual presentation of a book:  “Nigerian Telecommunications Law and Regulation,” co-authored by Quasim Odunmbaku, a telecoms regulatory professional at the NCC and Rotimi Akapo, who specialises in Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) at the weekend in Abuja, lamented that his experience in the area of internet services has not been palatable.

Jemide told the virtual audience that included the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Sunday Dare; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NCC, Prof Garba Dambatta and others, said he had internet subscription plans at home with the MNOs and some ISPs, lamenting, however, that his experience had not been anything to write home about. He urged the NCC to address the issue.

Another subscriber, Aderemi Esan, said the speed at which sites open is  frustrating. The NCC, he said, should intervene.

Danbatta, who was the chairman and lead presenter at the event, was among the scholars and industry practitioners that endorsed the book.

He said law and regulation remain two critical pillars, which influence the speed and impact of innovation in the telecoms sector.

“As important as these two factors are, they typically lag behind technology. It, therefore, behoves on all legal and regulatory practitioners in the sector to keep abreast of developments so that knowledge gaps do not stifle innovation and/or deny consumers of the optimum value,” he said.

Represented by the Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management at NCC, Adeleke Adwolu, the EVC acknowledged that there is a noticeable paucity of well-researched books and reference materials on the legal and regulatory regime governing the telecommunications and indeed the ICT sector in Nigeria.

 

 

“I am, therefore, delighted that the authors of “Nigerian Telecommunications Law and Regulation” have taken up the challenge and have produced a comprehensive reference material which touches on practically every aspect of the subject.”

 

The official public presentation of the book was done by Mr Dare, who, who incidentally was a former ECSM at NCC, and had worked closely with one of the authors. Dare described the book as “a compendium that will greatly enrich the level knowledge needed to enhance telecoms growth.”

 

The book’s reviewer, Dr. Mohammed Suleh-Yusuf, said:  “The book is highly useful to practitioners and lay readers alike. It serves as a window into what shapes the industry and ensures readers are familiar at surface, to the basic rules and norms that influence the industry.”

 

Other stakeholders have overwhelmingly endorsed the book, describing it as a good reference material and comprehensive guide, reference material and source-book on the policy, legal and regulatory framework governing the Nigerian telecommunications sector, which, many stakeholders said, will fill a critical contemporary knowledge gap for legal practitioners, investors and the academia.

 

Head, Sub-Saharan Africa Operations, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Akinwale Goodluck, said: “As an industry practitioner, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and recommend it very strongly for everyone with an interest in the industry. It also provides invaluable insight for other countries in sub-Saharan Africa to learn from the Nigeria experience.”

 

Immediate past President, Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, and his successor, Ike Nnamani, said the authors have challenged the industry by putting together an encyclopedia behind the growth of the industry from the perspective of legal, regulatory, economic, social and technological impacts.

 

Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said “the book carefully dissects the policies, rules, regulations and industry best practices which makes the Nigerian telecommunications industry the success story that it is today, despite numerous challenges.”

 

Other stakeholders, who rated the book very high both in contents and relevance to industry practitioners include Jemide; Director, Legal & Regulatory Affairs/Company Secretary, Airtel Networks Limited, Shola Adeyemi; Principal Partner and Head, ICT Law & Regulation, Sceptre Law, Lagos, Otu Etuk; Prof. Abiola Sanni of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, among others.