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Multiple regulations, taxes will soon be over – NCC boss

By on November 29, 2015

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, on Friday said that if talks with the Nigeria Governors Forum were anything to go by, multiple regulations, taxes and right of way issues would be over soon.

Besides talks with the NGF, the NCC, he said, had also engaged other agencies of government in talks with a view to improving relationship with telecommunications service providers who are often the victims of the multiple taxes and regulations.

Danbatta spoke in Abuja when he received the management team of ATC Wireless Infrastructure Company of Nigeria, an infrastructure management company.

The commission’s EVC said that the NCC as a responsible regulatory agency was worried about multiple regulations and taxes because they do not augur well for smooth development of the telecommunications sector.

He said, “So we have decided to engage all stakeholders, especially other government agencies, in order to cushion the pains operators go through.

“The NCC is particularly worried about the indiscriminate way base transceiver stations are sealed by agencies and some state governments and we have appealed to these agencies and the state governors to show some understanding.”

He added, “We are particularly in talks with them to understand the implications of these actions as they affect quality of service and other sundry matters, including power supply.”

He therefore implored ATC Nigeria to ensure regular power supply to the managed base stations in order to make a difference, “because government has created an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, ATC Nigeria, Mr. Gordon Porter, said his team came to familiarise itself with the NCC management and to “tell you what we do, how we do it and why we do what we do.”

ATC had recently acquired 4716 cell sites from Bharti Airtel Nigeria and for the past 146 days it has deployed 1,000 generators and replaced 600 air-conditioning units.

So far, over $11m has been invested by the company in these towers with a view to improving quality of service.

“ATC has been in constant talks with host communities with a view to improving relations and right-of-way,” Porter said.

He said that although it had a commercial relationship with Airtel, it was interested in working with other operators, especially on the issue of co-location, adding that ATC hoped to inject about $100m in the business in the next two years.
[Punch]