Danbatta Attributes Telecoms Growth to Regulatory Excellence

THE success recorded in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria can be traced to the efficient regulation by the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC).

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta made that remark in Barcelona Spain, at the global telecom community noting that Nigeria’s success can be credited to telecom regulatory excellence.

Professor Danbatta who spoke as a panelist on the thematic Summit titled ‘Creating Incentives for Investment’ at the high profile Ministerial Programme of Mobile World Congress which ended in Barcelona, Spain yesterday, said the progress under his agenda is a case in point.

He said within this space, broadband penetration grew from less than 10% to 21%, while broadband Internet penetration moved from 20 per cent to 40 per cent is an indication that the target 30 per cent growth in broadband growth by 2018 is no longer a tall order.

The NCC boss disclosed at the meeting, which has in attendance, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu and fellow ministers, ministers, regulators, vendors, service providers and experts from different countries of the world that the inclusion of operational efficiency and regulatory excellence as an important item of the 8-Point Agenda of his administration is a strategic design, which takes into account, best international standards in all areas of telecom regulation in Nigeria.

He said in the instance of spectrum management efficiency, remarkable progress was recorded in the well-known transparent spectrum auctions, one of which was 2.6GHz spectrum won by MTN on which it has deployed broadband LTE services.

He added that Glo has also deployed similar services, resulting in percentage growth witnessed in broadband, and broadband Internet penetration within a short period.

In the panel discussion moderated by Brian Williamson, Partner, Communications Chambers, Jolier Zoiller of United States Department of State, and Hector Huici, Secretary of Communications in Argentina, Danbatta said consistent with the protection and empowerment of the consumer item of the agenda, especially with quality of service, the Commission has committed to tackling it to its logical conclusion.

“We have the capacity within the Commission, to measure key performance indicators for all operators and the entire length and breadth of the country, and we are able to say with certainty where these indicators are not being met with the standards set by the NCC.

“We have identified the operators that are not meeting with these standards and we have told them that they must meet up with the standards because we are concerned that unless there is improvement in quality of service Nigerians will not be able to enjoy services that they desire”, he said.

Danbatta said it was for this reason that the Commission is set to flag off a campaign tagged: “2017: Year of the Telecom Consumer in Nigeria” to accentuate another provision in the 8-Point Agenda which is to protect and empower the consumer.

This year’s mobile congress, with the theme, The Next Element, had more than 108,000 attendees with more than 2,300 companies exhibiting products ranging from new handsets, new apps, virtual realities, connected cars, backend solutions and others.