Don't Miss


Home   >   Tech & Telecoms   >   Telecoms   >   Poor telecoms services mar Christmas celebrations

Poor telecoms services mar Christmas celebrations

By on December 27, 2013

Despite the threat by the Federal Government to sanction telecoms operators for poor quality of service by the end of this month, subscribers had all kinds of difficulties communicating with their loved ones in the days leading to Christmas.

Our correspondent observed that some areas hitherto with good network quality suddenly lost signals, leading to cases of dropped calls; and even where signals were okay, some subscribers were unable to make and receive calls on Christmas Eve and the day after.

Amid the constraints, most subscribers had to rely on text messages, BlackBerry Messenger and emails, in some cases, to communicate with their families and friends.

The Federal Government had earlier this month threatened to prosecute telecoms service providers that continued to render poor quality services to subscribers after December 31, 2013.

The plan to prosecute the errant telecoms operators was disclosed by the Ministry of Communication Technology, Consumer Protection Council, and the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Rev. Uche Ibe, who spoke to our correspondent on the eve of Christmas, said out of his three telephone lines, he was only able to use one as the others were not connecting calls.

Ibe, who expressed disappointment over the challenges facing telecoms subscribers in Nigeria, said the network operators should have taken precautions knowing full well the peculiarities of the season.

“They (telecoms firms) know that things are not always usual this season. People will want to make more calls to their family members, friends and business associates. This, of course, will put some added pressure on their networks,” he said.

Josephine Aror, a subscriber residing at Akute area of Ogun State, said she had resorted to communicating with friends and family members through BBM and SMS after finding it difficult to make voice calls.

“I think so many people are trying to make calls at the same time, and as a result, a lot of us cannot get through. But I have not been having issues sending text messages. For me, I can manage,” she said.

Tunde Oresanya, a subscriber at Ikeja, Lagos, told our correspondent that he had not been able to make calls since the morning of Christmas.

Oresanya, who uses just one mobile telephone line, described the situation as unfortunate and very disturbing.

 

 

[Punch]