NCC: A Caricature Of A Regulatory Agency

Nigeria's telecom regulatory authority, NCC, had on May 10, 2012 imposed a fine of N1.17 billion ($7.3 million) on the four operators in the country for poor quality of services after an analysis of the Key Performance Indicators on their networks for the months of March and April. The regulatory body sanctioned the operators for failing to satisfy the Nigerian mobile user population, who, mostly, use two lines as an alternative to network failure from any provider.

While some of my less knowledgeable peers applauded the move as timely, I shook my head in disgust because it was not a deterrent penalty that was likely produce a panacea. In a system that continually shows disdain for accountability, discussing the destination of the levy is a moot point.

In a nation where government agencies have been so emboldened that the news media is littered daily with stories of how billions of Naira meant for the public develops legs and grows wings only to nest in the personal accounts of some fat cats, it is obvious that the administration is not in the slightest, ready to tackle the anomalies bedeviling service delivery with this cart-before-the-horse approach. 

I was against the levy from the word go because charity, they say, begins at home. The FG ought to have fined itself first for failing in its duty to ensure that all necessary infrastructure required to ensure effective service delivery were present. In the absence of basic infrastructure, it is tantamount to hypocrisy of the highest proportion to expect excellent service delivery.

The reason I decided to write this is because as I rightly predicted, the fine levied has not achieved any positive aim as telecom services are even worse than ever. In fact, it occurred to me that the levied "fine" is nothing more than a license fee. A license fee for telecom operators to continue to deliver poor services and exploit Nigerians just as the Federal Government has been doing since time immemorial.

Just five days ago, MTN Ghana was banned by Ghana's telecommunications regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA), from selling SIM Cards and/or adding any new SIM cards/subscribers to the MTN network until further notice because of the deteriorating quality of its network.

How is that for a serious regulatory agency under a serious government?

Malcolm O. Ifi.

Engage on twitter @saymalcolm