The key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) are difficult to achieve, and many telecoms in developed countries would struggle to match up to them, according to Lucas Dada, director of business segment at Etisalat Nigeria.
Service quality has been a source of controversy in Nigeria recently, with HumanIPO reporting earlier this year operators MTN, Globacom and Airtel reluctantly paid a total of NGN647.5 million (US$4 million) in fines imposed by the NCC for failing to meet a number of KPIs.
“The KPIs are fantastic, but some of them are tight and tough to achieve. Not all developed countries could achieve them, not to talk of here in Nigeria where telecoms companies are battling with numerous challenges,” Dada said at the ongoing Mobile West Africa 2014 conference in Lagos.
He said power supply is one of the peculiar challenges facing telecoms in Nigeria, with the companies spending more than NGN100 billion (US$614 million) on power, including the cost of diesel, generating sets and security. He urged the Nigerian government to accord the power poles that serve telecom infrastructures with special preference.
Dada described smartphones as the lever for the next wave of the technological revolution, and called for concerted efforts to increase smartphone penetration in Nigeria by identifying stakeholders, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and startups that play roles in increasing smartphone penetration in Nigeria.
“They should be supported with incentives, rebates and tax holidays. We should ensure OEMs have local presence in Nigeria starting with phone assembly then manufacture. These would lower the cost of smartphones and create more jobs,” he said.
“Nigerian consumers, especially the data-loving users, enjoy affordability.”
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