LAGOS: Nigeria continues to struggle to improve its telecom customer services. For a number of years now, efforts by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) have come up short to force companies to improve their services. Now, however the NCC is demanding operators offer customer centric services. Nigeria currently has over 100 million active mobile lines. The head of the NCC Eugene Juwah said at the National Association of Telecommunications Subsribers summit that customer service was most vital in helping push the country forward on its telecom and IT enterprises. Without adequate customer service, it is untenable to advance and attract investors. Also at the event was NCC Director of Public Affairs Tony Ojobo, who told the audience that service providers must ensure “that customer satisfaction ranks highest in priority in the provision of ICT goods and services." For the NCC, boosting customer service means happier customers, which translates in more calls and more subscriptions. “At the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) one of our mandates is to protect and promote the interests of consumers against unfair practices from their Service Providers." Both NCC officials believe that getting operators to the level of customer expectations is vital to the future of the sector. They said that consumers must be treated with respect from the operators, with “access to robust services; affordability and availability of service; transparent tariff regime; redress when wronged and compensation when wrongly billed/loss of service."
