L-R: Emma Okonji, president of NITRA; Tony Ojobo, director, Public Affairs at NCC; Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of ALTON; Mrs Yetunde Akinloye, head, Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC and Tony Nwosu, first VP of ATCON during NITRA’s quarterly meeting in Lagos recently.

Telecommunication regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that regulating the telecom sector for quality service delivery is a duty that it owes subscribers and the country at large.

Tony Ojobo, director, Public Affairs at the NCC who stood in for the commission’s Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made the remark at the Nigerian Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA) seminar held in Lagos recently.

Speaking on the theme, “The Impact of over Regulation of the Telecommunications Industry on Service Quality” he said “The operating word in your theme, over-regulation, connotes something dangerous and harmful to the telecommunications industry.

“It’s either we are too strict with what we are doing at the Commission to the extent that we are impacting negatively on the industry we are created to protect, or there are other bodies whose incursion into the Commission’s terrain is creating too much discomfort for those operating in the sector.” he said.

He pointed that the commission has not over-regulated the sector rather it has conducted all its activities based on its code of conduct and its aim is to protect subscribers and ensure that quality service is delivered.

He added that growth in the sector has shown that the commission’s activities have yielded positive result. “Early this month the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Telecoms contributed N1.58trn to GDP in the Second Quarter. Please permit us to quote from one report.

“The telecommunications sector of the Nigerian economy contributed N1.580 trillion to gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2016, or 9.8 per cent, which represents an increase of 1.0 point relative to the previous quarter.

“According to a new data just released by National Bureau of Statistics, this is the largest contribution to GDP made from this sector in the rebased period, which emphasizes that growth in telecommunications has remained robust when compared to total GDP.” he noted.

In addition, he said to achieve greater result all stakeholders must work together in a friendly atmosphere “One of our focus areas is to facilitate Broadband penetration and be able to meet the nation’s 30 per cent Broadband rollout target by 2018. This can only happen in a harmonious environment where the operators are encouraged to rollout, where the regulator and other important relevant stakeholders are not encumbered with unnecessary distractions.