NCC urge telcos to unlock new services

….as it sets to host African telecoms regulators conference

Prof Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has urged mobile operators to unlock new services, sources of value generation and revenue streams in their operations.

Danbatta, said it was necessary to innovate on how to access segments of the consumer wallets not presently allocated to communications by providing solutions to consumers’ needs in other vertical areas of education, health and government services made available through the telecom network infrastructure.

He gave the charge at the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Forum Organised by the NCC with the theme” Developing Nigeria’s Tech Ecosystem: Imperative for Improving Local Content.”

He added the NCC will continue to encourage tech entrepreneurship and in the Information and Communications Technology sector, noting that the Commission has recently embarked on visitation to various tech startup across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria to assess ICT development needs and challenges.

Meanwhile, Dr Jamil Galadanci, a lecturer at the Bayero University, Kano, in his presentation posited that curriculum in schools for teaching ICT-related courses should be 50 per cent theory and 50 per cent practical.

ALSO READ: NITDA, Huawei collaborate to provide latest ICT technical training

“Until these devices become part of children’s lives, they cannot start thinking of innovations using those tools later in life. I will suggest that the curriculum reviews, starting from the primary education level, continue in the secondary and tertiary levels as digital technology changes are exponential”, he said.

In addition, the commission is sets to host a 3-day Conference of African Telecommunications Regulators on Consumer Affairs (CATCO) 2019, with the theme: “Empowering the Telecom Consumer in an Era of Technological Evolution.”

Slated to hold in Abuja, the Federal Capital from August 20 – 22, 2019 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, CATCO 2019 is a follow-up to the one held in Lagos in 2013.

The NCC hosted the first edition in 2013, in Lagos with the theme, “Harnessing Regulatory Policies to Protect Telecom Consumers in Africa”. It was a huge success with no fewer than 15 African countries in attendance.

According to Danbatta, this year’s conference will advance on the gains of CATCO 2013 because it has been specially designed and tailored towards improving Africa telecommunications industry in the 21 century.

“This year’s event is geared towards pursuing a continuous collaboration between African telecommunications regulators of individual countries and their regional bodies such as West Africa Telecommunication Regulatory Assembly (WATRA), East African Communications Organisation (EACO), and others,” said Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.

According to Danbatta, the Conference will provide the platform for Africans to establish unity, solidarity, collective self-reliance amongst African nations, “thereby building on the principle of pan-Africanism within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) space; and sustaining a robust collaborative regulatory environment where current and future challenges are addressed.”

Participants are expected to provide varying and fresh perspectives to burning issues affecting telecoms consumers and service delivery in Africa. Also, vital discussions will focus on the current state of telecom industry in Africa, ways to improve it and how to sustain a healthy telecom industry.