Worried about the increasing rate at which telecoms
operators and value added service providers are
broadcasting unsolicited short message service (SMS)
and voice calls to telecoms subscribers, the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), has warned
operators to either stop the practice or risk sanction if
found wanting.
Director, Consumer Affairs of NCC, Mrs. Maryam Bayi,
who issued the warning at an interactive session with
journalists in Lagos recently, said the Commission is
inundated with complaints from subscribers who are
disturbed by incessant SMS and voice calls they
receive on a daily basis. She said the NCC is
considering regulating such SMS and voice calls, with
the intention to sanction those behind it.
According to her, subscribers mistake the unsolicited
SMS and voice calls for real business calls, especially
when they are expecting important SMS and voice
calls from either their business partners, their superior
officers, friends or relations, only to discover that the
call or SMS originated from telecoms operators and
value added service providers, who use such means for
their tele-marketing.
She explained that if there are regulations, there will
be some form of restrictions on the part of the
operators, in broadcasting such messages.
Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, who
also shared the pains of subscribers over unsolicited
messages and voice calls, called on subscribers to
challenge the operators by calling them to stop such
broadcast, each time they received unsolicited text
messages and voice calls.
Telecoms operators have defended themselves at
different telecoms fora, insisting that the unsolicited
SMS and voice calls do not emanate directly from
them, but from value added service providers that have
been licensed by the NCC to do SMS broadcast.
In spite of the denial, the unsolicited SMS and voice
calls still circulate to millions of subscribers on a daily
basis and subscribers are highly irritated by it.
Other issues discussed at the interactive forum, were
centered around the 2.6GHz spectrum, and the delay
in the rollout of 2.3GHz spectrum licence, which the
NCC sold to Bitflux in February 2014.
Fielding questions from journalists in these areas, the
Director, Spectrum Administration and Control of NCC,
Mr. Austin Nwalune said the Commission is making
fresh plans to license the 2.6GHz spectrum band, and
promised that NCC will revisit the guidelines for the
rollout of 2.3GHz spectrum and carryout the necessary
enforcement that will compel Bitflux to rollout service
on the 2.3GHz spectrum, which it won last year.
Chief Executive Officer of VDT Communications, one
of the three consortiums that made up Bitflux, Mr.
Biodun Omoniyi, has however promised Nigerians that
the company would roll out service on the 2.3GHz
spectrum in April next month.
"We are ready to roll out, having signed Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with an international vendor to
supply equipment that will facilitate service rollout.
Initially we wanted to roll out at the end of the first
quarter of the year, but that plan has been shifted by
two weeks, which means we have a new date to
rollout service by April this year," Omoniyi said.
Good Riddance To Rubbish
This Day
operators and value added service providers are
broadcasting unsolicited short message service (SMS)
and voice calls to telecoms subscribers, the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), has warned
operators to either stop the practice or risk sanction if
found wanting.
Director, Consumer Affairs of NCC, Mrs. Maryam Bayi,
who issued the warning at an interactive session with
journalists in Lagos recently, said the Commission is
inundated with complaints from subscribers who are
disturbed by incessant SMS and voice calls they
receive on a daily basis. She said the NCC is
considering regulating such SMS and voice calls, with
the intention to sanction those behind it.
According to her, subscribers mistake the unsolicited
SMS and voice calls for real business calls, especially
when they are expecting important SMS and voice
calls from either their business partners, their superior
officers, friends or relations, only to discover that the
call or SMS originated from telecoms operators and
value added service providers, who use such means for
their tele-marketing.
She explained that if there are regulations, there will
be some form of restrictions on the part of the
operators, in broadcasting such messages.
Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, who
also shared the pains of subscribers over unsolicited
messages and voice calls, called on subscribers to
challenge the operators by calling them to stop such
broadcast, each time they received unsolicited text
messages and voice calls.
Telecoms operators have defended themselves at
different telecoms fora, insisting that the unsolicited
SMS and voice calls do not emanate directly from
them, but from value added service providers that have
been licensed by the NCC to do SMS broadcast.
In spite of the denial, the unsolicited SMS and voice
calls still circulate to millions of subscribers on a daily
basis and subscribers are highly irritated by it.
Other issues discussed at the interactive forum, were
centered around the 2.6GHz spectrum, and the delay
in the rollout of 2.3GHz spectrum licence, which the
NCC sold to Bitflux in February 2014.
Fielding questions from journalists in these areas, the
Director, Spectrum Administration and Control of NCC,
Mr. Austin Nwalune said the Commission is making
fresh plans to license the 2.6GHz spectrum band, and
promised that NCC will revisit the guidelines for the
rollout of 2.3GHz spectrum and carryout the necessary
enforcement that will compel Bitflux to rollout service
on the 2.3GHz spectrum, which it won last year.
Chief Executive Officer of VDT Communications, one
of the three consortiums that made up Bitflux, Mr.
Biodun Omoniyi, has however promised Nigerians that
the company would roll out service on the 2.3GHz
spectrum in April next month.
"We are ready to roll out, having signed Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with an international vendor to
supply equipment that will facilitate service rollout.
Initially we wanted to roll out at the end of the first
quarter of the year, but that plan has been shifted by
two weeks, which means we have a new date to
rollout service by April this year," Omoniyi said.
Good Riddance To Rubbish
This Day
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