From Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
Prof. Umar Danbata, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), has criticised the activities of local and state authorities in the South East, who deny telecommunication companies the right of way in the task of providing services.
Speaking during a consumer parliament in Enugu yesterday, Danbata, who was represented by the head of public relations of the commission, Mr. Reuben Muoka, stated that, with Internet penetration of 21 per cent in Nigeria, the social media space has continued to thrive, while citizens are enjoy access to modern ways of interactions in cyberspace.
Commenting on the activities of some people in the South East that deny telecom companies the right of way, he said, “We still notice a lot of challenges confronting the provision of services in this part of the country, issues of vandalism of telecom equipment still abound; so we call on the appropriate authorities to note that it amounts to denial of our citizens’ right to communications when we obstruct service.”
He noted that some individuals still believed that telecom masts and towers constitute health hazards to humans, even though the World Health Organisation has affirmed that there was no hazard established against base stations.
Danbata said that anyone that adduced such reasons to deny right of way to telecom companies and prevent them from, expanding services was contributing to the poor quality of service on the network: