By Citizenship Newspaper
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, has revealed that there is an inflow of investments into the communications sector on account of the commission’s policy of information disclosure.
Dr Aminu gave the indication in Abuja today (Monday) at an interactive session with heads of media houses on the activities of the NCC and its regulatory measures to shore up industry growth.
Aminu said disclosure of information on the state of health of the sector, growth prospects and obligations of operators is a deliberate policy adopted by the NCC as a regulatory strategy for corporate governance and control.
“Information disclosure is a key regulatory mechanism, and it has already spurred investment drive in the industry,” he said.
He said by putting information out in the public space, it has helped the media to use such information, analyse it thereby helping the commission’s regulatory functions and improving the quality of services offered to Nigerians.
He said millions of dollars of investments have started coming into the country due to the newfound integrity of the sector reforms following public disclosure of information about infractions, and level of satisfaction in the services provided by operators.
He said also that information disclosure has ushered in a healthy competition that paves way for quality services and reduction in prices.
He revealed that before the end of September, the NCC will launch a new application that will help subscribers to find the best service provider in every location in the country.
He said the NCC will, on a quarterly basis, rank operators to help investors as well as consumers to make the right decisions and choices of preferred service provider.
He disclosed that the Commission’s change in regulatory approach will include watching out for cartels to ensure that operators do not come together to arbitrarily raise prices.
He also called for increased investments and injection of capital, not lower than one billion Naira, into the industry to boost sustainable growth of the sector.
Responding to questions, Dr Aminu dispelled rumours of presidential intervention over disquiet arising from recent reorganization exercises at the NCC.
He said promotion and reorganisation exercises conformed with established regulations, and that the motivation was to promote professionalism and quality of service delivery.
