The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami today disclosed that the biggest interest the government is poise to protect at all time is that of the consumers of Information and Communication Technology, who should be seen as Kings.
The Minister, who stated this while giving a remark at the Sectoral Virtual Forum 2020, organized by the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) believes that when the interest of the subscribers is protected, the industry would be seen to be moving forward.
“Protecting the interest of the consumers, particularly the poor masses are top of our priority as a government. They require fairness from all of us. We must see them as kings because they really deserve the best,” he announced.
He urged telecom operators to always take the interest of the consumers to heart, suggesting that one of the surest ways to protect the interest of the consumers is to ensure good quality of services and reduce the cost of data, which he described as the engine room of the digital economy.
He said on the part of the government, it has made several strategic efforts to protect telecom investments in the country. He said the federal government is working with the Nigerian Communications Commission to install unique ID on every infrastructure, which will enable security agencies to track and protect every telecom infrastructure across Nigeria.
He also noted that the issues of Right of Way have been addressed with many governors signing Executive Order to drastically reduce the cost per linear meter, while some have totally eradicated charging fee for the deployment of telecom infrastructure.
The Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) organized the Virtual Forum with the theme “Meeting the Interests of Government, Consumers and Telecom & ICT Companies in the Era of COVID-19 and Post COVID-19 Pandemic for Digital Economy Development” to converge regulator’s Interests and ensure a competitive telecom market and fast track development of telecom industry
Key strategic objective of the forum is to create an enabling environment for businesses and protection of investment in the sector; and Consumer’s Interests – to be satisfied in terms of quality of services, affordability and access; for Digital Economy Development.