YEAR OF THE CONSUMER- NCC, Operators Engage Soldiers at Consumer Conversation

The Nigerian Communications Commission recently gave concrete expression to its promise to engage every stakeholder in the telecom ecosystem as it held the CONSUMER CONVERSATION forum at   the Amphibious Training School of the Nigerian Army, Calabar, Cross River State.

It was the fourth edition of the Conversation organised by the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the Commission, which oversees all States in the South-South geopolitical zone save for Edo State which is in the purview of Lagos Zonal Office of the Commission.

Officers and men at the military institution had a robust discussion with NCC representatives led by Dr. Chidi Diugwu, Zonal Controller of Port Harcourt Office who represented the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta. All Mobile Network Operators were also well represented at the event attended by about 200 soldiers.  

Diugwu reiterated NCC's commitment to protecting the telecom consumers through information, education and all-inclusive engagements that will create opportunity for experiential sharing of the challenges of telecommunication service provision. He noted that Commission is irrevocably committed to ensuring that consumers enjoy quality services because the consumer suffers more from poor service quality yet the Consumer is the lifeblood of the Telecom industry.

Matters discussed at thw Conversation include billing integrity arising from unclear deductions of airtime on services not subscribed to; Relative obscurity in borrowing recharge, especially the apparent lack of knowledge on the terms and conditions; The authenticity of promotional activities and the recurring failure of operators to redeem prizes.

Other issues discussed include education of participants on attendant dispute resolution mechanisms; Unsolicited calls and call diversion;  the aggressive marketing strategies by service providers who do not provide options to consumers to “exit”; as well as challenges associated with Mobile Number portability.

All of the above issues were discussed in an enlightened manner to the satisfaction of the participants.

The Conversation, a programme of the ongoing Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer campaign launched by NCC on March 15 2017, is essentially implemented by the Zonal Operations department of the Commission.

Besides the Conversation, other extant consumer engagement programmes such as the Telecom Consumer Parliament, Consumer Outreach Programme, and the Consumer Town Hall Meetings, coordinated by the Consumer Affairs Department are also holding as scheduled and focusing on the challenges of the consumers.