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NCC Hosts Public Forum on QoS
 

 

COMMUNIQUE

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) being concerned about the recent degradation in the Quality of Service (QoS) on the networks of telecommunications service providers in the country held a Public Forum on Wednesday June 27, 2007 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja to:

 

Identify issues affecting Quality of Service in Nigeria
 
Seek solution to the current QoS challenges in the industry, and
 

Make recommendations on the way forward
 

Participants at the Forum were made up of representatives of network operators, consumer groups, experts on QoS issues and members of the general public.

A number of presentations addressing the above issues were made and the several contributions were received from participants during an open discussion session. The Forum identified critical issues that would require immediate attention in order to mitigate the current unacceptable QoS delivered by the various networks. These issues include:

 

i.
 		 Unreliable public Power Supply
 
ii.
 

Security
 
iii.
 		 Limited Transmission Infrastructure
 
iv.
 		 Network congestion
 
v.
 		 Lack of Information to consumers on downtime.
 


Power

Participants at the Forum identified power as the major challenge to Quality of Services. Operators claim that it contributes at least 70% to the Quality of Service problem in the industry. It was observed that generally the issues of power supply are within the ambit of government hence the recent efforts to reform the energy sector were applauded. However, there is a need to accelerate efforts in this regards. Pending when the government resolves the matter, operators were encouraged to improve upon the backup power supply deployments and also consider alternative power supply sources.


Security

Participants brought to the fore the security challenges faced by operators such as theft of generating sets, diesel, vandalisation of installations, youth restiveness etc. Various suggestions were made and it was recommended that operating companies should reach out to the police, civil defence corps and other security agencies to form a joint task force to aggressively address the issue of security. The Commission is to send a report is to government to highlight this threat to effective Quality of Service delivery.


Limited Transmission Infrastructure

The Forum noted the huge investment by operators in this area but encouraged them to do more.

The Forum also noted that while it is the responsibility of operators to build their infrastructure, continued government support through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and projects like SABI (state accelerated Broadband Initiative), WiN (Wire Nigeria Project) etc will be fast-tracked to support operators’ efforts.


Network Congestion

Participants expressed great concern about operators’ penchant for adding more subscribers than their network can accommodate.


The Forum considered it advisable that operators should:

 

limit promotions on their networks to only those that will not encourage more minutes of call, and
 
 

dimension their network within available capacity.
 



Lack of Information on Network Failures

It was noted that operators are not forthcoming with up-to-date information to subscribers about network failures and the challenges faced in their operations. Participants identified repeated call attempts as one of the factors responsible for congestion on networks and this has multiplier effect across networks.


Resolutions by the Forum

 

i.
 		 The primary responsibility of ensuring good Quality of Service delivery rests with the service provider
 
ii.
 		 Operators should be more pro-active in informing consumers of network failures and downtime.
 
iii.
 		 The public forum on QoS should be institutionalized and held more regularly.
 
iv.
 

Govt is requested to fast track reform in the power sector and building of new power plants.
 
v.
 		 Establishment of QoS Working Group comprising of operating companies, representatives of ALTON, ATCON, representatives of the Commission, consumer advocacy groups and other interested individuals.
 
vi.
 

The commission reiterated the availability of Funds under the Universal Service fund for infrastructural development (especially in rural areas) and invited operators to take advantage of this scheme.