The Commission has, in recent times been inundated with several
complaints from consumers, Industry Stakeholders against the various
promotions offered by Telecommunications Operators.
Consistent
with its processes, the Commission has carefully evaluated the
complaints received especially against the backdrop of sustaining the
integrity of the networks, the general interest of the consumers, the
socio-economic impact of these promotions on Operators and other
relevant
stakeholders.
The Commission is also mindful of its
statutory responsibilities such as; to protect and promote the interest
of consumers against unfair practices, promote fair competition in the
industry by protecting Operators from misuse of market power and
anti-competitive/unfair practices by other Operators.
i.
In due regard to the afore-mentioned responsibilities therefore and
having observed that these promotions have increased the number of
minutes available to subscribers for use within a limited period of time
thereby creating congestion in the networks as subscribers try to use
up the available minutes within the stipulated time.
ii. That
on-net calls were now being offered by Operators at tariffs well below
the prevailing inter-connect rates thereby introducing anti-competitive
practices and behaviour.
iii. That termination of calls were
becoming increasingly difficult from one network to another and overall
consumer experience on the networks has become very poor thereby making
it extremely difficult for subscribers to make calls successfully.
Consequent
upon the above-mentioned, the Commission therefore has banned all
promotions by Telecommunications Network Operators as well as lotteries
being carried out on such networks. This ban covers all proposed and
approved promotions and lotteries on which the Commission has given
approval further to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered into
with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).
This ban
is with immediate effect and shall continue to remain in force until
such a time as may be determined by the Commission. The Telecom
Operators affected by this include the following:
• GLOBACOM LTD
• MTN
• INTERCELLULAR NIG PLC
• VISAFONE COMMS LTD
• ETISALAT
• AIRTEL NETWORKS LTD
• MULTILINKS TELECOMS LTD
The
Commission wishes to assure all Telecommunications consumers of its
resolve to ensure that the Quality of Service offered across all
networks is such that delivers value to the consumers.
Tony Ojobo
Director, Public Affairs
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