NCC orders GSM firms to stop Promos

The Nigerian Communications Commission has stopped promos and lotteries by GSM firms in the country, to address the poor quality of telecoms services. NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, said in a statement on Monday that it had obtained credible information that the promos and lotteries were responsible for the poor quality of service.

Affected by the ban are Globacom Ltd (operators of Glo Mobile), MTN, Intercellular Nigeria Plc, Visafone, Etisalat, Airtel and Multilinks.

The commission also stated that the firms were engaging in anti-competitive practices with their low tariffs. That on-net call was now being offered by Operators at tariffs well below the prevailing inter-connect rates thereby introducing anti-competitive practices and behaviour.

Termination of calls were becoming increasingly difficult from one network to another and overall consumer experience on the networks has become very poor thereby making it extremely difficult for subscribers to make calls successfully,” the statement said. Hopefully the networks would improve.