With ridiculous promotions like ‘winning an airplane’ ruling the
airwaves, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday warned
telecommunications operators against running lotteries and promotions.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Tony Ojobo, the Director, Public Affairs of the commission in Abuja.The ban covered approved promotions and lotteries in which the NCC
signed a Memorandum of understanding with the National Lottery
Regulatory Commission.
The statement said the ban would be in place until such a time as might be determined by the commission.
The commission had in recent times been inundated with several
complaints from consumers and stakeholders against the various
promotions offered by the operators.
It said the commission had evaluated the complaints received against
the backdrop of sustaining the integrity of the networks and the general
interest of the consumers.
The statement further said that the commission was mindful of one of
its statutory responsibilities; to protect and promote the interest of
consumers against unfair practices.
It said the promotions had increased the number of minutes available
to subscribers for use within a limited period of time, thereby,
creating congestion in the networks.
It also said that on-net calls were now being offered by operators at
tariffs well below the prevailing inter-connect rates, thereby,
introducing anti-competitive practices and behaviour.
It further said the termination of calls was becoming difficult
between networks, making it extremely hard for subscribers to make calls
successfully.It listed the Telecom Operators affected by the ban as: GLOBACOM, MTN, INTERCELLULAR,VISAFONE, ETISALAT, AIRTEL and MULTILINKS.
The commission said it was determined to ensure that the quality of
service offered by the networks were such that delivered value to the
consumers. [NAN]
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