Total Blackout of Telecom Services: Prevail on FCT Minister, Kogi Government, ALTON Tells Buhari
- Telecom operators of Nigeria have expressed concern over the quality of services in sites around Kogi and FCT areas
- In a recent move, the association has advised the president to caution the government of Kogi state and the minister of the FCT, following the total blackout of its services
- Going forward, the association seek the government's intervention on the degradation in the quality of services outages happening to members' capacity extension and seizure of base stations in Kogi state
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the Kogi state government led by Governor Yahaya Bello and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over growing concerns about degrading the quality of service and seizure of sites in Kogi and FCT.
The association expressed concern about some development in the sectors which includes, Seizure of cellular sites, Concerns about degrading quality services at the FCT, High cost of energy, Rising cost of service provision and Safety of telecom workers.
In a statement sent to Legit.ng, the chairman of the association Engr. Gbenga Adebayo called on the president to prevail as a matter of urgency by bringing his authority to bear on the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service in other to prevent a total blackout in communication services in the affected areas.
Source: Original
Seizure of sites and developments in Kogi state
ALTON also express its concern about the shutting down of telecommunications facilities in Kogi State because of disputes arising from unusual taxes and levies demanded by the Kogi state Government through the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS).
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Part of the statement reads:
"We are very concerned that this indiscriminate action has the potential of further leading to a total telecommunications outage in Kogi State with neighboring states and parts of the Federal Capital Territory adversely impacted.
"To the best of our knowledge, our members have settled all statutory levies and taxes due to the Kogi State Government and have taken necessary steps to comply with local laws that govern business activities within Kogi State."
Concerns about degrading quality of services at the FCT
The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the office of the Director for Signage & Advertisement has refused to grant telecommunication Service Providers a permit to build infrastructure in the Federal capital city.
The problem
This is affecting the quality of services around FCT and Abuja.
The problem is created by the governing authority in the FCT. Telecommunications services drive on the terrestrial infrastructure.
The call for government's intervention
"We hereby call on the Federal Executive Council to prevail on the FCDA in granting approval/permit to our members to deploy infrastructure."
The association added thus:
"We join in the call to Government to do a lot more to keep the nation safe and keep our workers safe. We reaffirm our commitment work working with the security agencies in order the necessary support for national security for which we now need protection from sub-national government and agencies to stop the interference of smooth operations of telecom services."
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The impasse had prevented developers from moving to the site since signing Power Purchase Agreements in 2016.
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Source: Legit.ng
