NCC SHOTS DOWN ILLEGAL SPECTRUM OCCUPANT IN LAGOS, CONFISTICATES EQUIPMENT

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, yesterday, sealed the offices of Cobranet, a telecom company based in Lekki, Lagos, for illegally occupying frequencies in some bands mapped out for broadband services in the country, and disrupting the services of other service providers.

However, the Commission after final warning on the issue in June, 2011, discovered that Cobranet, was transmitting signals on the affected frequencies, hence an enforcement action against the company, resulting its being shot down by the Commission, and its equipment disconnected and confiscated all its transmission equipment.

Head of Compliance Monitoring of the Commission, Mr. Efosa Idehen, who led the enforcement action, spoke to journalists at the company’s premises in Lagos, and said Cobranet will also pay some yet to be determined amount of money to be calculated by the frequency department of the Commission with reference to the space and time the company has illegally occupied the band.

He also said the action of the company is also detrimental to the service quality of other providers as illegal occupations of frequencies degrade the quality of service of the other operators who may be legally operating on such frequencies.

Head of Media and Public Relations of the NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, who addressed the press on the issue, said the clampdown on Cobranet is a signal to other operators who may be operating without proper authorization or without recourse to all the rules of the game in the telecommunications industry.

Mr. Muoka said the current leadership at the Commission is focused on compliance to the rules, hence the need for all operators to adhere to all the rules and conditions in service provisioning for the benefit of the subscribers and the nation. He said that the frequency spectrum is a finite resource whose use must be in accordance with the set guidelines and conditions.

The Commission has in 2009, developed guidelines for the deployment of frequency services on the 5.2 – 5.9GHz bands. In April 2011, the Commission declared the 5.470 – 5.725 portion of this spectrum as licensed, licensable and not license exempt in Nigeria. Consequently, it warned all companies without a license of the Commission to avoid transmitting signals, or using equipment on this frequency band.