Nigerian Telecoms operators have revealed the reason behind the poor network services experienced in the country.
Unlike what Nigerians may think, it is no fault of any telecom company but the unfortunate vandalisation of base stations, destruction of optic fibre, high forex and shutting of base stations by government agencies.
During an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the President of Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Olusola Teniola said;
“There is a situation in the industry whereby the equipment to bring into the country to increase capacity is either delayed by government, or at the port, we are not given the right payment in time.
“Secondly, forex is high but the equipment price has not reduced, making it very difficult to sustain investment in increasing our network coverage and capacity.
Teniola further stated that:
”Vandalism, theft and sabotage of our base stations’ equipment, and base stations being shut down by different agencies demanding one tax after another do not help operators.
“We have incidents of optic fibre destruction, which impacts on traffic to be carried to and from one location or city to another.
He added;
”There is need for security operatives to ensure that telecommunications equipment which is a critical national infrastructure is protected,”
Urging the Federal Government to intervene and ease the burden on service providers by expediting action on issuance of relevant right of way permits for operators, he stated emphatically that if all the issues affecting operators are resolved, the quality of service will improve.
