Bharti Airtel's Nigeria chief called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to invest greater resources in telecommunications equipment in order to provide safeguards for users and to boost services for subscribers. Airtel Nigeria CEO and Managing Director Rajan Swaroop said at a recent dinner with senior media executives in the country that the federal government must see the importance of the telecom sector in the country in attracting greater investment from abroad. Swaroop said that the country should “make an effort to nationally secure telecommunications infrastructure for the benefit of all stakeholders due to persistent damage to telecom fibers along the expressways and roads in the country and the rising spate of vandalizing telecoms equipment.” He added that “various parties including those working on roads do extensive damage to telecom infrastructure daily. These fiber cuts affect the network and it takes a while to discover where the damage happened. Therefore, we need as a country to take a stand on protecting this infrastructure as a national priority.” His comments come as Airtel pushes forward on a massive investment project that they hope will take them into the rural areas of the country. Swaroop and the company say that this investment, estimated at $1 billion, will enable the company to meet the “challenges and opportunities of the Nigerian market.” BM
