Danbatta attributes Nigeria’s telecom success to regulatory excellence

Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has informed the global telecom community in Barcelona Spain, that Nigeria’s telecom success can be attributed to her regulatory excellence.

Professor Danbatta made this remark while speaking as a panelist at the high profile ministerial Programme of Mobile World Congress titled ‘Creating Incentives for Investment’ which ended in Barcelona, Spain.

He said that the progress made under his agenda is a case in point, adding that within this space, broadband penetration grew from less than 10 percent to 21 percent, while broadband Internet penetration moved from 20 percent to 40 percent which goes to show that the target 30 percent growth in broadband penetration by 2018 is no longer a tall order.
Danbatta also told his audience, among who are Nigeria’s minister of Communications,

Barrister Adebayo Shittu, other ministers, regulators, vendors, service providers and experts from different countries of the world, stressing the inclusion of operational efficiency and regulatory excellence as a significant item of the 8-Point Agenda of his administration which takes into account best international standards in all areas of telecom regulation in Nigeria.
He cited the spectrum management efficiency and the remarkable progress recorded in the well-known transparent spectrum auctions, which saw MTN winning the 2.6GHz spectrum, now deployed in its broadband LTE services.

He also mentioned Glo, another provider which has also deployed similar services, culminating in percentage growth witnessed in broadband and broadband Internet penetration within a short period.He emphasized that the commission was consistent with the protection and empowerment of the consumer item of the agenda, particularly with quality of service and tackling same 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,” the EVC NCC added.

It was for this reason, Danbatta hinted that the Commission plans 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, panel of discussion was moderated by Brian Williamson, Partner, Communications Chambers, Jolier Zoiller of United States Department of State, and Hector Huici, Secretary of Communications in Argentina.
The congress had more than 108,000 attendees with more than 2,300 companies showcasing products ranging from new handsets, new apps, virtual realities, connected cars, backend solutions and others.