NCC may lift ban on promos and lotteries

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday said that it might lift the ban on promotions and lotteries by telecommunications operators.

It said this would, however, affect only those who met the Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

Mr Eugene Juwah, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, disclosed this in Lagos, during a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Juwah said that the regulatory body was already carrying out the measurements to find out which operators met the KPI in Dec. 2012 and was on the verge of releasing the results.

''We are carrying out measurements and when we finish, we will see the service providers that are meeting our thresholds.

''The operators who meet our thresholds well, we will lift the ban on them, for the ones that do not meet the thresholds, the ban will still stay,'' he said.

Jawah said that with the agreement NCC reached with the operators, the commission had given them enough time to repair and make the necessary investments on their networks.

He said that the regulatory body and the service providers agreed that the KPI measurements should be carried out for Dec. 2012 services.

NAN reports that NCC had on Nov. 12, 2012, announced the ban of all promotions by telecommunications operators, as well as lotteries being carried out on the networks.

Mr Tony Ojobo, Director of Public Affairs, had said in a statement that the ban would continue to remain in force until such a time determined by the commission.

He said that NCC had been inundated with several complaints from consumers and industry stakeholders against the various promotions offered by operators.

According to him, the commission carefully evaluated the complaints received, especially against the backdrop of sustaining the integrity of the networks.

Ojobo had also assured subscribers of the telecommunications umpire's resolve to ensure that the Quality of Service offered across all networks was such that delivered value to the consumers

NAN also recalls that based on the last KPI report, the NCC sanctioned four GSM operators, a cumulative amount of N1.17 billion penalty for poor Quality of Services (QoS) in May 2012.

Ahead of the release of the report on the KPI for Dec. 2012, many subscribers have complained of poor services by the operators, with some calling for stiffer penalties against erring ones.

A cross-section of the subscribers had told NAN that the poor services rendered by the operators had worsened, despite the ban on promo services by the NCC.

Mr Silas Daniel, a businessman in Abuja, had described the services of some of the service providers during the yuletide as ‘’terrible’’.

Daniel noted that some of the operators had inundated the subscribers with unsolicited text messages during the yuletide period at different rates

The President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, had also told NAN that some SMS sent during Christmas and New Year celebrations were not delivered while some were delivered days after the celebrations.

He said that even when the text messages were not delivered, telecoms consumers were charged for the service noting that quality of service had been the bane of the telecoms industry.

NAN recalls that the NCC had also warned that there would be fresh sanctions for companies found wanting-- based on the KPI report for Dec. 2012. 

NAN