By 
The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) will be hosting a sectoral virtual forum to address the need of telecom and ICT stakeholders including regulators, operators and consumers in the COVID-19, post COVID-19 and digital economy era.
The forum is designed to provide solutions around the existing industry challenges in order to meet the new national broadband target of 70%.
The theme of the gathering is: “Meeting the interests of government, consumers and telecom & ICT Companies in the era of COVID-19 and post Covid-19 pandemic for digital economy development.”
“ATCON is providing a veritable platform for governments, consumers (corporate and personal) and telecommunications and ICT companies to rub minds on how consumers can be better off in terms of effective delivery of telecoms and ICT services and products in Nigeria,” said ATCON’s president, Olusola Teniola in a statement issued in Lagos, this week .and signed by its executive secretary, Ajibola Olude.
“The centrality of consumer to the projected growth of the Nigerian telecoms and ICT Sector cannot be overlooked in the area of the needed investment to accelerate the progress of our sector. With the emergence of digital economy in Nigeria coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, many economic transactions would be done digitally going forward,” Teniola added.
The event holds via Zoom (and live on Facebook and other social platforms), Thursday, August 6, 2020 from 10am
Participants may registered here: https://forms.gle/JVnFApRMF71MSnPf8
“In actualizing this dream of giving Nigerian telecoms and ICT consumers a place in the heart of governments and telecoms and ICT companies, all hands must be on deck in that governments must make laws that encourage further investment into the sector. Telecommunications and ICT companies must make consumers satisfaction their priority and the consumers must support the telecoms and ICT companies by requesting government to relax its exorbitant taxes and levies and telecoms and ICT companies must be able to buy Forex directly from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“The Nigeria’s telecom sector has witnessed two major important developments – President Muhammadu Buhari, on October 23, 2019 renamed the ministry which supervises the telecoms and ICT Sector to the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and further expand its mandate to capture the goals of digitalization of the Nigerian economy in line with the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) and the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. These two important developments will form the basis of the continued development of the Telecoms and ICT Sector in the next few years,” said Teniola.
According to the umbrella body of telecoms companies in Nigeria, part of the objectives of the sectoral forum is to converge regulator’s, operator’s and consumer’ interests. The regulator’s interest focuses on ensuring a competitive telecom market and fast tracking developments in the elecom industry. The operator’s Interests to have an enabling environment for businesses and protection of investment in the sector; while consumers are more pre-occupied with satisfactory quality of services, affordable access within the context of the emerging for digital economy.
“The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will constitute the role of the government, all members of ATCON and players in the industry will constitute the role of the operators while National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Consumer Rights Awareness Advancement And Advocacy Initiative (CRAAAI), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Nigerian Bar Association, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), and National Universities Commission among others will constitute the role of the consumers,” the ATCON president added.
“The interdependence among the government, telecom and ICT Companies and Nigerians are clearly obvious but each of them have limitations and potentials hence the forum would make an attempt to address their limitations and turn them to advantage for the development of Nigerian telecom and ICT Sector in this era of COVID-19 and thereafter.”
