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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said over 50,000 cases of major destruction to telecoms infrastructure and facilities have been reported across the country in the past five years.
This was contained in a statement issued by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
Danbatta, who spoke at the 2022 edition of Youth Civil Society and Stakeholders Summit (YCSSS) held at the Army Resource Centre, Abuja, expressed worry over how the incidents have continued to affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) of consumers.
He called for concerted efforts by the members of the public and security agencies to stem the tide.
Danbatta, represented by the Head, Corporate Communication Unit of the Commission, Mrs. Nnena Ukoha, said the negative impacts of incessant vandalism of telecoms equipment, evidenced in fibre cuts, theft of telecoms facilities like generators at sites, vandalism of base stations, among other vices, have become a major burden on the service providers, while telecoms consumers have continued to suffer unwarranted disruptions of their hard-earned services.
“The impact of vandalism of infrastructure is felt by all in the quality of services rendered, as it results in increasing drop calls, data and internet connectivity disruptions, aborted and undelivered short messaging services (SMS), as well as countless failed calls,” he said.
The vice chairman said that considering the well-known fact that the ability to connect and communicate is fundamental to human existence, improvement in business processes, government services, education, as well as social and family networking through seamless connections, every community should be involve in protecting the critical infrastructure that makes these services possible.
“Therefore, as a community, you are expected to report cases of vandalism of telecoms infrastructure to the nearest law enforcement agencies such as the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and also share adequate information received from NCC with your family, friends, and neighbours.
“We believe, with your cooperation as critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector, we can all work with the law enforcement authorities in protecting telecoms infrastructure in your community,” Danbatta added.