The President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, has said that the mobile network operators in the country are just paying lip service to the issue of Quality of Service.He said this against the backdrop of the countrys abysmally poor service quality across all the mobile networks.Speaking at the first open forum of the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission in Lagos, on Tuesday, Omo-Ettu said the absence of quality telecoms mobile network services manifested "when customers have to be wooed with promos."In a paper, titled, Providing Customer Centric Services- The Role of Service Providers, the ATCON boss lamented that though mobile network operators desired to maintain high customer service, he noted that this was being curtailed by operational challenges affecting them.According to him, the Nigerian market is viable but very tough and unfriendly, which has been driving unnecessary promos by telecoms companies.Omo-Ettu, who said he was not sure whether consumers actually needed the amount of promos currently available in the market, noted that the promos were aimed at enhancing operators survival.The ATCON president also said that persistent poor QoS in the country was not only affecting the countrys over 100 million mobile subscribers but had also been threatening the survival of telecoms operators.According to him, poor QoS affects mobile operators badly, as operators dont laugh to the bank when service quality is bad.He said, "The only time the operators are good is when QoS is good. When quality is bad, operators dont smile to the banks."He, however, called on the NCC to increase its sanctions against outright and intolerable customer related misdemeanors, adding that the regulator and telecoms operators must collaborate on researches that could enhance customer satisfaction in the country.Speaking on the theme of the forum, Service Delivery in the Telecoms Industry: Milestones, Problems and Prospects, the Executive Vice-Chairman, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said the objective of the ICAF was to act in an advisory capacity and make recommendations to the NCC regarding the interests and concerns of consumers of ICT products and services, including persons with disabilities and the elderly.The NCC boss further explained that ICAF was also saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the protection of subscribers from unfair practices.He said that the forum would submit memoranda on the trend and facilitate the review of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations, 2007.The Director-General, Consumer Protection Council, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, who also doubles as ICAF chairman, said the House of Representatives, last week, invited the CPC, alongside NCC and other regulatory bodies, to explain the dearth of quality customer service delivery and consumer protection in the country.
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