NCC Regulations’ Trajectory Makes Telecommunications ‘Consumers As Kings’
Since the inception of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it has been unswerving in one of the core mandates which is deepening and protecting the rights of telecom consumers in Nigeria and this has made ‘Consumers as Kings’, Editor, Gentechnews, Tony Nwakaegho writes.
The protection of the rights is enshrined in Chapter VII of the NCC Act (NCA 2003) and that gave authority to the Consumer Affairs Bureau, (CAB) a key department of the NCC.
The CAB comprises of the following three (3) units all reporting to the Director, Consumer Affairs:
Consumer Information and Education (CIE); The Consumer Policy Development and monitoring Unit (CPDM); The Consumer Protection and Advocacy Unit (CPA) and the Consumer Information and Education (CIE)
The mandate of the Consumer Information and Education unit is to disseminate information through various channels on the rights and obligations of telecom Consumers with a view to and empowering Consumers and other stakeholders in the industry.
Other functions include: Empower Consumers through awareness creation programmes such as the following Outreach events to educate Consumers of their rights, privileges and obligations: Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) (Face to Face and Virtual).
Telecom Consumer Conversations
Professionals’ Dialogue
NYSC Camp Sensitization
Campus Conversation
The Market Conversation
The Village Square Dialogue
World Consumer Rights Day
Telecom Consumer Town Hall on Radio.
Telecom & the Citizen (Twitter Live Chat)
Online dissemination of consumer information & education on NCC’s social media handle
Production of factsheet into bookmarks in English & translation in local languages (Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin and Yoruba).
Consumer Portal Editorial Functions.
Production of Skits, digital banners, audio-visuals for consumer education and awareness.
Conduct research and publication of Consumer Information and education materials for dissemination to Consumers.
Empower Consumers through dissemination of information at International Trade Fairs and ICT Conferences and Exhibition.
Collaborate with Consumer Advocacy Groups and Government institutions in Consumer Awareness Creation and Education.
The Consumer Policy Development and Monitoring Unit (CPDM)
The Consumer Policy Development and Monitoring Unit is saddled with the development of consumer friendly policies and monitoring of quality of service provided by network operators.
Other functions include: Conducting research and investigations into topical issues/complaints with a view to developing Consumer centric policies.
The unit also monitors service providers spread of customer care centers and quality of service delivery around the country while monitoring help lines on a daily basis.
It also coordinates the conduction of bi-annual nationwide surveys on Consumer satisfaction to ascertain Consumer perception of services rendered and the determination of a Consumer satisfaction index for the industry.
As the custodian of the General Consumer code of Practice Regulation, 2007, the unit carries out annual review of the regulation and Individual Consumer codes of practice submitted by all NCC licenses.
The unit reviews applications for promotions and industry reward schemes and also monitors implementation of such.
The Consumer Protection and Advocacy Unit (CPA)
Consumer Protection is charged with the protection of all telecom Consumers and ensures that their queries are well attended to by their Service Providers.
The unit also manages and supervises the NCC Outsourced Contact Centers daily activities to ensure that quality assurance and other standards are followed. Other functions include;
Provision of Second Level Support to Consumers who have called their Service Providers but have their issues either unresolved or unsatisfactorily resolved.
Remote and on spot Monitoring of NCC outsourced contact center. Producing daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports on NCC Outsourced Contact Centers and Service Providers customer care activities.
Develop Service Providers Call Centers monitoring guide lines.
Monitor the resolution standards of all consumer issues by the Service Providers.
Develop standard customer care best practice.
Coordinating special projects and activities such as:
Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF)
Technical Working Group on Child Online Protection (TWG NCOP).
National Stakeholders’ workshops on the needs of the challenged Groups into ICT provisioning.
Collaboration and Support of Special / Specific Consumer Advocacy Groups.
Research on global Consumer Advocacy issues and recommend to Management for regulatory intervention
Development, review and publication of guidelines for an all inclusive service provisioning of ICT services
Recently, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Okukenu IV, applauded the NCC as a flagship public institution impacting lives positively as the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM) of NCC, Adeleke Adewolu, led a delegation of NCC staff to the state where the maiden edition of the Village Square Dialogue (VSD) was organised by NCC at the 92-year-old Centenary Hall, adjacent the Alake’s Palace in Abeokuta.
The VSD, a version of the Telecom Consumer Conversation (a strategic, multistakeholder consumer outreach programme of NCC).The VSD is specially conceived by the NCC to interact with telecom consumers at the grassroots for the purpose of sensitising telecom consumers through information sharing, education and advocacy on telecommunications-related issues.
Importantly, the forum provides opportunity for telecom consumers in the rural areas to make contributions to the governance process of the telecom ecosystem, and to equally engage their service providers to resolve complaints.
The Alake of Egbaland applauded the regulatory strides of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in ensuring accelerated growth of telecommunications sector, thus making the sector a flagship enabler of Nigeria’s prosperity.
Oba Gbadebo, who was the Royal Father of the Day at the event, and was represented by Oluwo of Ake, Egbaland, Chief Samuel Tanimowo, said “One of the public institutions, whose activities are felt by the generality of Nigerians in many positive ways is NCC and the leadership of the Commission must be commended for its doggedness in ensuring that Nigerians enjoy the benefits of digital revolutions.”
The monarch also particularly commended Adewolu, an indigene of the state, for his positive representation of the people of Owu Kingdom, Ogun State, where he hails from.
“We also thank you and your entire Board and Management for bringing the first edition of the Village Square Dialogue to us in Ogun State. This is a testament to how important you take our state, which has contributed tremendously to the socio-economic and political history of Nigeria,” the first-class monarch said.
Earlier in his welcome address, Adewolu, who once served as a Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs in the State, called on the community leaders and people of Ogun State to take ownership of telecommunications infrastructure in their localities and protect them from vandalism or theft.
The ECSM said Ogun State is central to telecoms growth in Nigeria in that it hosts one of the largest concentration of users of telecoms services in Nigeria, with an active subscriber base of over eight million users as at the Fourth Quarter of 2021, according to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“This huge subscriber base is supported by a dynamic ecosystem of service providers, dealers, marketers and innovators. We are, therefore, here to host the maiden edition of the NCC-instituted Village Square Dialogue and to salute the legendary entrepreneurial spirit of the people of Ogun State. On behalf of the Commission, I also thank you for the warm reception accorded us and the warmth traditionally accorded telecom service providers to bolster infrastructure development”, Adewolu said.
Addressing the audience further, Adewolu said telecoms services have long been recognised as the easiest and cheapest means of meeting critical socio-economic needs such as education, financial inclusion, economic empowerment and deepening social interactions.
Accordingly, Adewolu said the infrastructure through which these services are provided are called the “infrastructure of infrastructures” because they enable the digitization and seamless connectivity of all other socio-economic sectors.
“Without telecoms infrastructure, we cannot communicate with friends and family over long distances at the touch of a button, and we cannot conduct banking, insurance, governmental services, education, entertainment and many other activities with ease without telecommunications. This means that telecoms infrastructure are critical to modern existence, and we must all do what we can to ensure that we tackle anything that affects their seamless operation”, Adewolu emphasised.
“Issues like hostile communities, the theft of diesel, batteries and power-generating sets, digging up fiber lines, sealing/locking-up of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites and such other illegal activities must be tackled decisively by all of us. I therefore urge you all to please see telecoms infrastructure as your own, and to protect them as communal property. Anybody that tampers with telecoms infrastructure is tampering with your future and the future of your children – they should be resisted and reported,” the ECSM stated.
Recall, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC has always reiterated the commitment of NCC to protect Nigeria’s telecom consumers.
The EVC said “The consumer is king; hence our consumer-centric regulatory initiatives to ensure consumer protection; information and education have continued to top our agenda.”
In 2016 NCC introduced the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code, which gave consumers the power to opt-in or out of unsolicited messages on their respective networks.
The Commission declared 2017 as “The Year of the Consumer,’’ because of the importance attached to consumer protection and set out with various projects to bring telecom consumers closer to the commission and their various network operators.
The commission also upgraded the NCC-Free number 522 as secondary complaints mechanism to further empower and resolve consumer complaints and issued directives on data roll-over and another on the forceful subscription of data services and value-added services (VAS).
These two directives have ensured effective protection of telecom consumers as they can now roll over data which they previously lose before the directive as well put a halt to forceful subscription of data services and value-added services.
NCC also introduced other regulations that will ensure that we are also able to rid our environment of indiscriminate disposal of malfunctioning and disused gadgets, which are capable of posing health hazard to consumers.
Consequently, the Commission set up the Mobile Services Management Systems project that will help in combating the proliferation of fake, counterfeit and cloned communication devices in the telecommunications industry, as well as developed regulations on E-Waste.
Type approval for devices
According to Engr Bako Wakil, the Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, the approval process is to ensure that the proliferation of substandard and fake devices are not actually allowed in the industry.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has kicked off its regulatory activities in 2020 with a workshop at the Dover Hotel in Ikeja Lagos on Thursday (30/01/2020) hosted to sensitise and educate its licensees and other relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian telecom industry on the importance of type approval of telecoms equipment and other mobile and terminal devices.
Discussions at the forum focused on sensitising the stakeholders to the need for type approval of telecom equipment (mobile or major), used by network operators in the deployment of services while also raising the red flag on inherent dangers associated with the use of non-type approved equipment and mobile devices imported by unscrupulous elements into the country.
Addressing stakeholders at the workshop, Bako Wakil, Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity (TSNI), NCC, said type approval is one of the key regulatory functions of the Commission and a means through which NCC authenticates specifications, standards and conformity of telecom equipment for use in the Nigerian telecom industry.
According to him, type approval involves submitting a sample of a telecom equipment or device to the Commission to ensure its conformity and interoperability within the country’s telecom ecosystem and to guarantee they are safe for use by the consumers.
Wakil, however, explained the adverse effect of lack of a type approval process in any telecoms market. According to him, “the sales, installation and use of counterfeit, fake and substandard consumer telecom equipment such as mobile phones, tablets and other mobile accessories pose great risk to human health and safety and this underscores the importance of type approval of every equipment imported for use in Nigeria. The equipment also has the power to degrade QoS of our networks.”
Wakil called on all relevant stakeholders, dealers of mobile consumer terminal equipment as well as major equipment importers and sellers as well as providers of Automated Vehicle Tracking System Service to be vigilant and ensure compliance to type approval established by the Commission in Nigeria.
NCC also conduct a periodic audit of the networks to ensure the Mobile Network Operators, (MNOs) do not harbour improperly registered SIM cards on their networks
Emergency Communications Centres (ECC)
The NCC now has 25 Emergency Communications Centres (ECC) that have been activated across the country, while the national emergency number 112 allows Nigerians in distress to get help in emergencies.
“The 112 number has become a major channel of communication during this COVID-19 period as over 1,200 COVID-19 related calls were made to the 112 national emergency toll-free number between March and June 2020 from the various ECCs across the country.
The EVC NCC has emphasized in different forum that the consumers of telecommunications services deserved to get value for their money and be treated as very important stakeholders in the scheme of things as far as service delivery is concerned.
Danbatta has also reiterated that his administration is fighting to protect consumers from unfair practices through availability of information and education to make informed choices in the use of ICT services.
“We have put the service providers on special notice about our current monitoring of user experience on issues of poor reception, wrong billings and deductions, automatic rollover among other issues, and if they fail to improve services to the detriment of the consumers, will face appropriate regulatory actions and sanctions,” the EVC said.
The recent planned hike proposed by the telecom companies caused a lot of hoopla among subscribers in the telecommunication industry until the Commission stepped in to douse the tension through the instrumentality of its regulatory policy.
NCC allayed the fear of subscribers that Data, SMS tariff hike agitation by service providers was not possible without approval from the Commission.
A statement signed by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde Director, Public Affairs at NCC, noted that the Commission has monitored with keen interest the deluge of reports in the media on the demand by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) ostensibly to increase tariffs of telecom services and has taken notes of the fears being expressed by telecom subscribers on the agitation.
The statement read that the demand being made by MNOs under the auspices of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), citing high cost of running their operations as the major reason for their proposed tariff hike, is contained in a letter to the Commission.
According to the statement, consistent with international best practice and established regulatory procedures, the NCC ensures its regulatory activities are guided by regular cost-based and empirical studies to determine appropriate cost (upper and floor price) within which service providers are allowed to charge their subscribers for services delivered.
The Commission ensures that any cost determined, as an outcome of such transparent studies is fair enough as to enhance healthy competition among operators, provide wider choices for the subscribers as well as ensure sustainability of the Nigerian telecoms industry.
For the avoidance of any doubt, and contrary to MNOs’ agitation to increase tariffs for voice and Short Messaging Services (SMS) by a certain percentage, the Commission wishes to categorically inform telecoms subscribers and allay the fears of Nigerians that no tariff increase will be effected by the operators without due regulatory approval by the Commission.
It is noteworthy that tariff regulations and determinations are made by the Commission in line with the provisions of Sections 4, 90 and 92 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, which entrusts the Commission with the protection and promotion of the interests of subscribers against unfair practices including but not limited to matters relating to tariffs and charges.
The current tariff regime being administered by the service providers is a product of NCC’s determination both for voice and SMS in the past.
However, while there could be justifiable reasons for MNOs’ demand for tariff increase, it should be noted that they are not allowed to do such either individually or collectively without recourse to NCC, following the outcome of a cost study. This is not the case for now.
Through NCC’s commitment to engendering healthy competition among the licensees, the cost of services has been democratised and become more and more affordable for Nigerian subscribers. The regulator is even more committed to this cause to ensure subscribers get greater value for money spent on telecom services.
It is as a result of NCC regulatory trajectory that is why the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), acknowledged the Commission as one of Africa’s foremost regulator.
The Commission has been giving research grants to the academia and endowed professional chairs in some Nigerian universities, empowered the Nigerian youth by promoting their ingenuity and innovation in the development of locally-relevant technology solutions.
The Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), the Cybersecurity Centre for the telecom sector established by the NCC has always alerted Nigerians on malwares that make devices to be vulnerable to attacks as well as the latest antics of hackers who can unlock and steal your vehicles.
According to the CSIRT, the fact that car remotes are categorized short range devices that make use of radio frequency (RF) to lock and unlock cars informed the need for the Commission to alert the general public on this emergent danger, where hackers take advantage to unlock and start a compromised car.
It revealed that the vulnerability is a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack or, more specifically, a replay attack in which an attacker intercepts the RF signals normally sent from a remote key fob to the car, manipulates these signals, and re-sends them later to unlock the car at will.
With this latest type of cyber-attack, it is also possible to manipulate the captured commands and re-transmit them to achieve a different outcome altogether. “Multiple researchers disclosed a vulnerability, which is said to be used by a nearby attacker to unlock some Honda and Acura car models and start their engines wirelessly.
The attack consists of a threat actor capturing the radio frequency (RF) signals sent from your key fob to the car and resending these signals to take control of your car’s remote keyless entry system,” the advisory stated emphatically.
However, the NCC-CSIRT, in the advisory, has offer some precautionary measures or solutions that can be adopted by car owners to prevent falling victim to the attack.
According to the cyber-alert unit of the Commission, “When affected, the only mitigation is to reset your key fob at the dealership. Besides, the affected car manufacturer may provide a security mechanism that generate fresh codes for each authentication request, this makes it difficult for an attacker to ‘replay’ the codes thereafter. Additionally, vulnerable car users should store their key fobs in signal-blocking ‘Faraday pouches’ when not in use.”
Importantly, car owners in the stated categories are advised to choose Passive Keyless Entry (PKE) as opposed to Remote Keyless Entry (RKE), which would make it harder for an attacker to read the signal due to the fact that criminals would need to be at close proximity to carry out their nefarious acts.
The PKE is an automotive security system that operates automatically when the user is in proximity to the vehicle, unlocking the door on approach or when the door handle is pulled, and also locking it when the user walks away or touches the car on exit. The RKE system, on the other hand, represents the standard solution for conveniently locking and unlocking a vehicle’s doors and luggage compartment by remote control.
Additionally, in a related advisory, the NCC, based on another detection by CSIRT, wishes to inform the general public about the resurgence of Joker Trojan-Infected Android Apps on Google Play Store. This arose due to the activities of criminals who intentionally download legitimate apps from the Play Store, modify them by embedding the Trojan malware and then uploading the app back to the Play Store with a new name.
The malicious payload is only activated once the apps goes live on the Play Store, which enables the apps to scale through Google’s strict evaluation process. Once installed, these apps request for permissions that once granted, enable the apps to have access to critical functions such as text messages and notifications.
As a consequence, a compromised device will subscribe unwitting users to premium services, billing them for services that do not exist. A device like this can also be used to commit Short Messaging Service (SMS) fraud while the owner is unaware.
It can click on online ads automatically and even use SMS One Time password (OTPs) to secretly approve payments. Without checking bank statements, the user will be unaware that he or she has subscribed to an online service. Other actions, such as stealing text messages, contacts, and other device data, are also possible.
To avoid falling victim to the manipulation of hackers deploying Joker Trojan-Infected Android Apps, Android users have been advised to avoid downloading unnecessary apps or installing apps from unofficial sources.
The NCC also wishes to advise telecom consumers to ensure that apps installed from the Google Play Store are heavily scrutinized by reading reviews, assessing the developers, perusing the terms of use and only granting the necessary permissions.
Conclusively, the NCC recommends that unauthorised transactions be checked against any installed app.
Indeed, any apps not in use should be deleted while users are also advised to ensure that a device is always patched and updated to the latest software.
By and large, Danbatta has always restated the commitment of the NCC to continue to protect consumers who considered as kings in the telecommunications industry and ensure they have value for their money, and appealed to consumers to report any infraction by mobile network operators to NCC.
