The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the panel it set up to probe into allegations of market stiffening levied against mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider, IHS Towers, by another service provider, SWAP Technologies and Telecoms will be ready in three weeks’ time.
Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Dambatta, who led other management staff of the commission to a House of Representatives Committee on Telecommunications investigative hearing, today, revealed this.
Dambatta who was represented by the Director in charge of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, told the Committee that the Commission had set-up the panel to ascertain the level of compliance with the NCC regulations by IHS.
“NCC has a standard regulation for installation of masts, for instance, there must be a minimum distance of 1km for a mast of 355-meter height. We only received the coordinate from SWAP in February, we have set up a committee to investigate and the report will be ready in three weeks,” the NCC representative said.
TheNewsGuru reports in 2017 SWAP petitioned the House of Representatives over an alleged breach of NCC regulation on the citing of based stations by IHS, resulting to the House placing a ban on IHS to desist from completing about 243 of its telecommunication masts under construction across the states of the Federation.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon Saheed Akinade-Fijabi, explained that his committee had received several petitions from telecommunications service providers, as regards inability of IHS to deliver on their terms to contract.
This, he said, is according to the pending directive of the committee.
The Chairman, however, noted that it would be insensitive to further halt the business operations of IHS, after four months.
“This committee in November directed IHS to halt further installation on the facilities in contention, this was in anticipation that the NCC report would be ready and presented to us within three weeks.
“However, since the report is not ready, IHS can continue its installation, on the condition that if they are indicted by the NCC report, appropriate sanctions will be applied,” the Lawmaker said.
Meanwhile, the Committee made IHS Head of Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr Abbey Bond, to sign an undertaking that adequate sanctions, including compensation, would apply if the NCC report indicts the company.