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Yuletide: Subscribers decry sinking service quality

 Telecom subscribers have decried the sinking service quality in the sector, describing it as unacceptable. They complained bitterly about calls that usually failed to achieve their purposes but only end up depleting their airtime.

Acting under the aegis of Association of Telephone, Cable Tv and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS), its National President of ATCIS-Nigeria, Hon. Sina Bilesanmi, also frowned at the refusal of successive administrations of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to grant approval to telcos to build infrastructure that would have improved end user experience.

He said: “On telecoms subscription, while subscriber figures have gone up, service quality has continued to be an issue. The quality sunk further during the Yuletide. Drop calls, network congestion, call diversion and so many others have increased.

“We urge the operators to up their games just as we appeal to the various approving agencies to give expedited approval to telcos to expand infrastructure across the country. Particularly, we appeal to President Bola Tinubu GCFR to prevail upon the authorities of the FCT Abuja, to grant approval to telcos to build a more resilient network. We heard that for almost a decade, successive administrations at the FCT have refused to grant approval to telcos to build infrastructure.

“FCT Minister, subscriber Nyesom Wike should please look at this critical issue and address it with dispatch.”

Bilesanmi who spoke during the ACTIS-Nigeria’s 8th Edition Press Briefing as part of activities to mark the end of the year, also expressed worries over what he described as incessant hike in pay TV subscriptions tariff in the country.

He urged the Federal Government to break the monopoly of Multichoice and create a level playing field for others who want to play in the sector.

The president lamented that the pay TV services provider have consistently raised tariffs in a manner suggestive of insensitivity to the plights of ATCIS-Nigeria members.

He said Multichoice, being the major cable TV operator in the sub-sector of the broadcast industry, has continued to hike its subscription fees unapologetically in Nigeria and urged the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to borrow a leaf from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and rise up to its responsibilities of prioritizing the protection of the consumers.

He said: “It’s unclear if the NBC’s sphere of supervision extends to that of the pay TV industry because if it does, the South African operator will not be taking everyone for a ride hiding under the excuse of increase in content costs. We had sought the introduction of the GSM payment model but they said they lacked the technology to so do. Since the company said it cannot implement it, just as MTN and Econet Wireles had earlier said per second billing was a mirage in the telecoms industry, until Globacom came to the rescue with per second billing, we passionately appeal to President Tinubu to look critically into how to break this monopoly. The government should create a level playing field. An operator must not be allowed to become too powerful.”

He urged the Federal Government to set up a committee to examine why attempts by indigenous operators to go into the pay TV industry is always frustrated.

“We demand for genuine liberalisation of the sector. We demand that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) should beam its search light on the pay TV sector. For instance, telecoms subscribers should be able to roll over their subscriptions,” Bilesanmi said.