Poor service: NCC threatens sanctions against telecoms

•Says poor service may attract initial N5m fine, N500, 000 per day

All the eight telecommunication companies in the country have up till the end of this month to improve their services or start paying hefty fines to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under fresh regulations just rolled out by the agency.

The NCC is to the telecoms what the Central Bank is to the banking sector.

Under the new dispensation ,any errant operator could be banned from selling SIM cards from December 31.

Each of the operators with poor service may henceforth pay fines ranging between half a million naira and N5million per day.

The eight operators asked to buckle up are: MTN; Airtel; Etisalat; Globacom; Swift Networks; Intercellular; Multilinks; and Visafone.

The NCC communicated its decision to the operators in a December 10, 2013 letter by its Executive Chairman, Eugene Juwah,S through the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, Josephine Amuwa.

The letter entitled "Notice of intention to issue Direction pursuant to Sections 53 and 54 of the NCC Act, 2003" asked the operators to sit up.

It said: "Whereas: (a) The Quality of Service Regulations, 2012 developed and published by the Commission specified certain Key Performance Indicators (KPI) threshold to be maintainedby telecommunication service providers.

"(b) The commission after careful investigation of the Quality of Services of all the major network operators has concluded that the present service being provided by telecommunication service providers falls below the KPI published by the Commission in the Quality of Service Regulations, 2012.

"Now therefore, the Commission having critically reviewed the declining Quality of Service and in exercise of its statutory powers intends to issue a direction in the following terms:

• Failure to comply with any direction that may be issued pursuant to the above notice will result in the imposition of sanction in the amount of five million naira (N5, 000,000) and a further sum of N500, 000 per day after the expiration of the notice for as long as the contravention persists and calculated from the deadline specified by the Commission for the operator to meet the minimum standard of quality of service.

• Your comments/ submissions on this notice should be submitted on or before 20th December, 2013; failing which, the Commission shall issue the direction as aforesaid compelling you to comply.

•Your comments/ submissions on this notice of intention to issue a direction should be forwarded to the Executive Chairman, NCC."

This is the second time the NCC will be forced to call the operators to order on poor services.

All the operators were sanctioned N1,170,000, 000 in May 2012 for failing in different KPI s.

Each of the operators was sanctioned as follows: MTN Nigeria Communications and Etisalat, N360,000,000 ( Three Hundred and Sixty Million ) each; Airtel -N270,000,000 (Two Hundred and Seventy Million Naira); and Globacom attracted a penalty of N180,000,000 (One Hundred and Eighty Million Naira).

An NCC said that the commission had no choice than to wield the big stick again in light of persistent complaints by Nigerians.

"The ultimatum on the improvement on Quality of Service is from December 31st, implying the Commission would take another measurement on this date," the source said.

"These operators have not improved in spite of the sanctions imposed on them in 2012.

"The implication is that if any of the operators failed in KPI by 31 December , it would warrant stoppage of sale of SIM cards by the offending operators.

" All the operators may be affected as most of them are not performing to the satisfaction of the key consumers especially in the area of drop calls which has become more rampant in recent times.

"The failure of the operators to meet with the terms of agreement with the Commission in 2012, will warrant implementation of the Key Performance Indicators early instituted by the Commission, which would imply much more drastic action.

"The stoppage of SIM card, would not preclude issuance of sanctions as done in 2012 as the Commission is angered by the fact that the KPI's were lowered after the sanctions but the operators did not meet to the terms of agreement it entered with the Commission to improve quality over a 12 months period during which it promised to meet with the KPI's."