Subscribers Back Govt’s Plan To Stop Telecoms Sales Promo

The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) on Monday lauded plans by the Federal Government to stop sales promotions on GSM networks.

Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, the NATCOMS President, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the move would free-up the network and stop current congestion of the networks.

NAN reports that Communications Technology Minister, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, last Thursday said that the Federal Executive Council had approved punitive measures to improve service delivery by operators.

NAN quotes the minister as saying that “in the coming days, Nigerian Communications Commission will stop promotions that increase subscriber base thereby causing additional congestion on the networks.”

Ogunbanjo said that stopping the promotions would compel telecom operators to upgrade their services to meet up with their promotions.

“By this decision, telecom operators will want to expedite action to improve on their networks, knowing that their promotions always attract more subscribers into their various networks.

“All these promotions here and there are also affecting the quality of service; it’s a good decision that the Federal Government has taken.

“Let us see if the stoppage will have positive effect on the quality of service and if operators want to continue to give back to subscribers, they must first focus on quality of service to subscribers,” he said.

Ogunbanjo said that sales promotions were good if there were quality of services, adding that operators should first improve on their networks before continuing with their promotions.

He said that promotions were also motivating operators to reduce tariffs within their networks and this was causing more congestion on the networks due to the incentives.

The NATCOMS president said that many subscribers had benefited from these promotions and such incentives were ways of giving back to subscribers.

“Telecom promotions have in one way or the other reduced tariffs across the networks and that has encouraged subscribers to enjoy talking freely,” Ogunbanjo said.

He said that operators should now ensure that base stations were well maintained and create better infrastructure.