Providers of Global System for Mobile Telecommunications, GSM, in Nigeria have been issued a stern warning by the Nigerian Government demanding that they should either address the poor quality of service or leave the Nigerian business market.
The government asked to know the reasons behind the cases of dropped calls, poor network reception and the unauthorized airtime deductions.
GSM operators in-turn said that power, multiple-taxation and the insecurity of their facilities were some of the reasons behind their poor service provision.
Senator Gil Emeka Nnaji, Chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, however disagreed saying Nigeria’s public deserved the best in telecommunications bearing in mind the large investments the federal government made in the telecommunications sector.
Kabir Mahi, acting chairman of (FIRS) Federal Inland Revenue Services, refuted the claims on taxes saying the government constitution was clear on legal taxes to be paid by businesses.
Dr. Eugene Juwah, head of (NCC) Nigerian Communications Commission, identified the absence of appropriate infrastructure to manage the speedily increasing subscriber base and lack of setting rules to enforce observation, on operators as the main challenges in ensuring better quality of service.
Juwah added that NCC had ascertained that the cooperation of Federal Capital Administration would put up additional telecommunication tower sites in Abuja as a part of a plan to boost the service.
Nigeria has four main telecom service providers namely MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom, and Etisalat, with a current estimate of 88 million cell phones, as of October 2011, with most users owning more than one cell phone.
