By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—THE Senate, yesterday, raised alarm that Nigerians have been robbed of billions of Naira, following the unwholesome practices by telecommunications network operators in Nigeria.

It also condemned in very strong terms the inefficiency of GSM network operators in Nigeria, which had resulted in poor service delivery.

The Senate said it was worried that operators in Nigeria had recently been experiencing terrible congestion on their networks, thus denying subscribers the benefits of getting value for their money and hampering their ability to make or receive calls successfully.

Recovered Money

Against this backdrop, the Senate asked the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to immediately invoke the appropriate provisions of the law and other extant agreements to protect consumers where necessary, seek customers refund for disrupted calls caused by network issues and allow them have more control over their usage of data bundles as practised by telecom operators in countries like Kenya (Safaricom), South Africa, etc.

The Upper Chamber urged the NCC; the Consumer Protection Council, CPC; Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and other regulatory agencies to carry out effective supervision of telecoms service providers to ensure regulatory excellence; operational efficiency and sterling service delivery.

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion by Senator Andy Uba (APC, Anambra South), entitled: “The increasing rate of dropped calls and other unwholesome practices by telecommunication network operators in Nigeria that have robbed Nigerians of their hard earned billions of naira.”

The Senate also directed the NCC and other relevant agencies to carry out a thorough investigation of the causes of dropped calls in the GSM network and come up with innovations that would improve customer experiences.

It has also asked its Committees on Communications and Trade & Investment to further look into the issues raised in this Motion.

Earlier in his presentation of the motion, Senator Uba said:  ‘’The Senate notes that telecommunication services have gradually become an integral part of the Nigerian economy, as well as an important tool in the social-economic life of Nigerians, over the last decade;

“It observes that Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication subscribers have of late, experienced a disturbing and yet increasing rate of dropped calls; encountered incomprehensible speech and voice quality that sounds like speaking from the bottom of a fish tank;

“The Senate is worried that all the G.S.M operators in Nigeria have recently been experiencing terrible congestions on their networks, thus denying subscribers the benefits of getting value for their resources and hampering their ability to make or receive calls successfully;

“It observes that operators also have an unfair advantage with dropped calls from per-minute users as callers end up paying for an entire minute if a call drops in between, especially within the first few seconds;

“It is worried also that subscribers’ expectations that the quality of service delivery proffered by a G.S.M. network opperator improves as the network matures is no longer realistic;

“It further observes that despite the warning issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission on the activities of telecom operators using the dropped call mechanism to defraud Nigerians by deducting money from phone users illegally, no serious sanction / penalty has been issued against any operator to date;

“The Senate is concerned that though service providers have continued to expand their network coverage beyond what their existing infrastructure could carry, no adequate provision has been made to improve service delivery.

‘’A recent investigation shows that the four  major operators, namely MTN, Airtel, Etisalat and Globacom, could not provide the rate of drop calls on their networks; and they appear not to see the reason to compensate their customers for disconnected calls or address their frustrations;

“The Senate is disturbed that operators in the telecommunication industry have not invested substantially on their network to improve the quality of service rendered, a clear case of investment not keeping pace with contemporary needs.”