By Prince Osuagwu

(Hi-Tech Editor)

Very soon telephone users in West African countries may no longer have to worry over the high cost of roaming because the regional regulator, West African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly, WATRA, is putting up a guideline that will harmonise roaming activities of the ECOWAS region.

*Telecom mast

This was revealed recently by the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Alhaji Maman Laminou when he led a delegation of WATRA to Abuja on a visit to Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.

Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta has declared that having been involved in the formation of WATRA, his commission will continue to lend a helping hand to the activities of the ECOWAS telecom watch dog.

The EVC made the promise while welcoming the WATRA team in his office recently. He revealed to the visitors that the NCC hopes to leverage on WATRA’s expertise to actualise the recently unveiled eight-point agenda which focus is on the turnaround of the telecommunications sector.

He assured them that the National Broadband Plan will be pursued vigorously and that attaining the 30% minimum coverage by 2018 is possible, adding that broadband plan will cater for everybody including those in the rural communities.

In his remarks, Mr Laminou congratulated Danbatta for his appointment as EVC of the NCC and pledged the support of WATRA to NCC at all times.

He said that WATRA was in the process of harmonising the roaming activities of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He said guidelines are being developed for a seamless interconnection and roaming of telephone users in West Africa, adding that this and many others will form discussions at the yearly general meeting in April, 2016.