Business
Subscribers Okay N22m Fine On Telecoms Operators
The President, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, last Saturday hailed the N22 million fine imposed on telecommunications operators that violated the rule on promotions and lotteries.
The fine was imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday following the flouting of its directive banning promotional and lottery activities by the operators.
Ogunbanjo told newsmen in Lagos on telephone that the fine would compel the operators to stop congesting their networks with promotions and lotteries.
The NCC imposed the fine on MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat.
MTN will pay N10 million out of the sum for putting out five promotions (N2 million for each promotion) while Etisalat will pay N6 million for three promotions.
Airtel will pay N4 million for running two promotions and Globacom will pay N2 million for one promotion.
The commission had, in a letter dated November 8, 2012, directed all telecommunications operators to discontinue with immediate effect all promotions and lotteries running on their networks.
The N22 million fine came few months after the NCC had fined the same operators to the tune of N1.4 billion for offering poor services.
Ogunbanjo said that the commission had once again carried out its statutory duty as a regulator of the telecommunications industry.
The NATCOMS president said that the imposition of fine would compel the operators to adhere to all NCC’s directives.
“The fine is a regulatory one. It will make the telecommunication operators to sit right.
“The fine will also make them to concentrate on service improvement rather than compound network congestion,” he said.
Ogunbanjo urged the NCC to focus more on protecting subscribers’ interests and to insist on better services by the operators.
Enoch Epelle