The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has charged members of the public to protect telecoms infrastructures against vandalism across the country.
Speaking on the role of communities in the protection of telecoms infrastructures, the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC, Efosa Idehen advised communities to guard against destruction through prompt notification of service providers on any ongoing road construction activities by companies or government agencies to avoid service disruption or interference in service.
He also charged everyone to be cautious of his or her environment, saying they should report cases of telecoms infrastructure vandalism to the nearest law enforcement agents such as the Police, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and to also share adequate information to family, friends, neighbours, in accordance with the information and materials provided by the NCC.
Why vandalism is a serious concern for telcos
Nigerians often experience dropped calls, aborted short message service (SMS), and countless futile attempts to make calls, in spite of the huge investments telcos make to improve their services.
Explaining why this is so, Assistant Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Abubakar Usman revealed that aside from theft and hostility in host communities, vandalism threatens the qualitative experience of telecommunication infrastructures.
“One of the major challenges to quality of service that operator provides to you, is vandalism of telecom infrastructure, such as Base Transceiver Stations. Others are theft, and hostility from some host communities, which have continued to pose a major setback to the industry,” he stated.
