NCC Bans All GSM and Telecom Operators From Promotions And Lotteries

The Nigerian Communication Commission has banned all promotions and lotteries being run by telecommunications network operators in the country.

The commission, in a statement on Monday, cited overwhelming consumer complaints as the main reason for its action.

The Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, confirmed that the commission had, in recent times, been inundated with several complaints from consumers and industry stakeholders against the various promotions being offered by the operators.

The Commission is also mindful of its statutory responsibilities such as; to protect and promote the interest of consumers against unfair practices, promote fair competition in the industry by protecting Operators from misuse of market power and anti-competitive/unfair practices by other Operators.

i. In due regard to the afore-mentioned responsibilities therefore and having observed that these promotions have increased the number of minutes available to subscribers for use within a limited period of time thereby creating congestion in the networks as subscribers try to use up the available minutes within the stipulated time.

ii. That on-net calls were now being offered by Operators at tariffs well below the prevailing inter-connect rates thereby introducing anti-competitive practices and behaviour.

iii. That termination of calls were becoming increasingly difficult from one network to another and overall consumer experience on the networks has become very poor thereby making it extremely difficult for subscribers to make calls successfully.

Consequent upon the above-mentioned, the Commission therefore has banned all promotions by Telecommunications Network Operators as well as lotteries being carried out on such networks. This ban covers all proposed and approved promotions and lotteries on which the Commission has given approval further to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered into with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).

This ban is with immediate effect and shall continue to remain in force until such a time as may be determined by the Commission. The Telecom Operators affected by this include the following:

• GLOBACOM LTD
• MTN
• INTERCELLULAR NIG PLC
• VISAFONE COMMS LTD
• ETISALAT
• AIRTEL NETWORKS LTD
• MULTILINKS TELECOMS LTD

The Commission wishes to assure all Telecommunications consumers of its resolve to ensure that the Quality of Service offered across all networks is such that delivers value to the consumers.

Tony Ojobo
Director, Public Affairs

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