The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the deadline for the payment of the N1.17 billion fine to be paid the telecoms operators is now May 25, instead of the May 21 date it gave earlier.
NCC had on May 11, slammed a total fine of N1.17 billion on operators namely MTN, Airtel, Glo and Etisalat, for failing to comply with the minimum standard of Quality of Service (QoS).
MTN and Etisalat were to pay N360 million each, while Airtel and Glo were asked to pay N270 million and N180 million respectively.
According to the statement issued last week, “Copies of the sanction letters addressed to the CEO of the telcos and endorsed by Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr. Maska, and Director, Legal Services, Mrs. Josephine Amuwa, disclosed that the sanction period covered only the months of March and April 2012, and must be paid on or before the 21st of May 2012.”
However, in press statement yesterday, Head, Media and Publicity, Mr. Rueben Mouka, said: “I have received a lot of calls from the media referring to May 21, 2012 as the deadline for payment of the commissions sanctions to operators, while our official records indicates May 25, 2012.
“Regrettably, May 21, 2012 was inadvertently listed on the statement which I signed on the subject. With reference to the official letters directing the operators to pay sanctions for poor quality of service in the months of March and April, please note that the deadline for the sanction is May 25, 2012.
Ruben added that he took full responsibility for the error, and requested journalists to correct the notion whenever occasion demands.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria’s telecommunications company has reaffirmed its commitment to the delivery of quality service to its subscribers following the faceoff it had with the commission.
In an advertorial jointly published in various newspapers last Wednesday, the operators appealed to its consumers over the poor quality of service, and pledged to improve their services drastically with the next 12 months by further investing heavily to support their network infrastructure.
The joint press statement said that over N1 trillion have been invested into the building and enhancing of mobile networks in the country over the last ten years, and a further N400 billion will be deployed this year to enhance infrastructure across their networks.
It however noted that the operating environment had been a major hindrance to achieving the pre-determined benchmark set by the regulator, describing the operating environment as frustrating and volatile, and urged the NCC and the people to encourage rather than condemn them.
The statement said all the four operators were actively engaged in competing with each other on quality of service to win the loyalty of existing customers and attract new customers.