NCC moves to protect telecom facilities

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the protection of telecommunication facilities in the country.

The memorandum was signed at a meeting between Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman of NCC, and Abdullahi Muhammadu, NSCDC commandant-general, at the head office of the corps in Abuja on Wednesday.

A statement from the NCC said the MoU is also geared towards achieving measurable and remarkable improvement in the quality of telecommunications services in Nigeria.

The statement added that the protection of the telecommunications facilities would be overseen by the NSCDC’s department of critical national infrastructure protection.

“Vandalism and theft of telecom infrastructure and facilities have been central recurring challenges to the attainment of the parameters defining the applicable quality of service standards for specific services in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria,” it read.

“This year, as part of the efforts of the commission to tame the manage and ultimately halt the criminalities associated with telecommunication service provision, NCC has organised six zonal sensitisation workshops for agencies in the security sector to deepen the understanding of each agency’s role in curbing the crimes undermining the quality of service in the telecom sector.”