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| LTA Boss With NCC Executives During The Visit |
Angelique Weeks, the Chairperson of the Liberian Telecommunications Authority (LTA) this morning paid a scheduled visit to the Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC at the head office of the Commission in Abuja.
Accompanied by top Management staff of the West African Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), Weeks, who is also the Chairperson of WATRA was received by the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta and other senior Management staff of the Commission, including the Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, Mr. Sunday Dare.
The Chairperson WATRA, Madam Angelique Weeks, thanked the Commission for its hospitality and flexibility in accepting the courtesy call despite the short notice. She thanked the NCC for the support it has offered WATRA over the years and for the role the country plays as big sister to Liberia.
Weeks also used the opportunity to congratulate the EVC on his appointment as the Chief Executive officer of the Commission and stated she is enthusiastic about strengthening the relationship between the Liberia Telecommunications Authority and the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Madam Weeks said as the Liberia Telecommunications Agency faces challenges of managing telecom promotions and it is working on some regulatory frameworks in that regard, LTA will turn to NCC for inputs to tackle the challenge and other issues that may arise from time to time on telecom regulation.
In response, Prof. Danbatta said although the NCC has succeeded in sanitizing the promotions aspect of the telecommunications industry, it still faces the challenge of improving the Quality of Service because of the size of the country’s subscribers which is over 140 million. The EVC also gave another indication of the size of the Nigerian telecom market as he told his guests that over 40 million terabytes of data are used monthly in Nigeria.
Prof. Danbatta and Madam Weeks also also reflected on the issue of roaming within the subregion and both of them demonstrated commitment towards exploring the possibility of having free roaming in West Africa; as well as forging strategic alliances with stakeholders to tackle cyber security.
Prof. Danbatta said the NCC appreciates the excellent job WATRA is doing in fostering collaboration in the West African sub region and promised the support of the Commission in WATRA's plan to have a permanent office complex in Abuja. He revealed that NCC is developing a framework for spectrum trading in line with Management's 8-Point Agenda. "Once the framework is approved, operators will no longer be allowed to keep spectrum that are not being utilized" Danbatta declared.
He said that the vision of the Commission is to bring telecom to the doorsteps of Nigerians so that access to telecommunications services is not hindered by physical boundaries in consistent with what is happening all over the world. Danbatta said broadband penetration in Nigeria is over 21 percent and NCC will not rest on its oars but will continue to improve on its regulatory operations.
Mr. Tony Ojobo, Director, Public Affairs, in his Vote of Thanks to Madam Weeks and members of her team conveyed Commission's appreciation for the visit and expressed hope that the visit will open a new vista of robust relationship between the NCC and the Liberian Telecommunications Authority.
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