In a bid to sustain and improve the quality of service delivery by the service providers, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has thus assigned a role to telecommunications subscribers in Nigeria in complementing efforts being put in place to ensure effective protection of telecommunications infrastructure.
The role to subscribers was emphasized recently at a sensitization programme the Commission organized at Wannune, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State.
“Aside from the role of the law enforcement agencies in protecting telecom infrastructure, the consumers, who are the subscribers and ultimate users of telecom services, have an obligation to do everything to protect telecoms infrastructure in their environment. These include the base transceiver stations (BTS), the underground fibre optic cable, as well as associated infrastructure,” said Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Amina Shehu.
According to Shehu, the problem of vandalism caused to telecom infrastructure which often results in poor quality of service delivery affects the end-users.
He noted that one of the major challenges to the quality of service that operators provide is vandalism of telecom infrastructure, such as Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), theft and hostility from some host communities, which have continued to pose a major setback to the industry.
While imploring the indigenes of Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State to ensure that they protect telecom facilities in their community, Shehu argued that it is imperative for the public to regard telecom facilities as collectively-owned infrastructure that are crucial and essential for the provision of efficient and acceptable telecom services.
Shehu, who was represented at the event by an Assistant Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Abubakar Usman, further enjoined the consumers to always alert law enforcement agencies close to them once they suspect any act of vandalism, theft or other suspicious activities directed at telecom infrastructure because such nefarious activities have implications for quality of service delivery in the communities.
