IT NEWS NIGERIA:
Apex telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has revealed yesterday at Obajana, Kogi State that it will never endorse equipment that would endanger the lives of the citizens of the country.
Director Zonal Operations at NCC, Amina Shehu stated this where NCC was hosted by the community at a sensitization forum organised by the Commission, focused on the imperative of protecting telecom infrastructure.
There were concerns telecoms masts pose dander to people’s live in the host communities leading to tempering of the transmission assets by the people.
He assured Nigerians that the Commission “will never approve the deployment of infrastructure and equipment by telecom operators if such facilities are hazardous”.
Khadiyah Abari, Principal Manager Zonal Operations Department at NCC head office who represented Shehu, told the participants that the advent of GSM and other emergent communication technologies and applications has re-engineered the Nigerian economy and social well-being but NCC is particularly interested in addressing the challenges that have come with the successes of new communication technologies and other risks that are undermining the ability of the Commission to consolidate on the gains recorded by the telecom sector.
One of such is the need to address the vandalism being visited on telecom infrastructure, facilities and equipment because the destruction is affecting seamless and robust provision of telecommunication services in the country. Abari told the gathering made up of community leaders and representatives of a broad spectra of groups in the community and security agencies that misconceptions and obfuscation of facts about telecom infrastructure especially base stations are uncalled for.
Abari stated that the Commission’s attention has been drawn to rising public concerns regarding likely negative health effects of Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) radiation emanating from telecommunication infrastructure and that while the Commission continues to invest in and monitor research trends in all spheres, it is inappropriate for all of us to allow the peddling of inaccurate and unscientific information. This explains the increasing wave of sensitization by NCC to put the facts correctly. “The NCC as a world class organisation and flagship regulatory authority in the Nigerian public sector will never approve deployment of infrastructure and equipment by telecom operators if such facilities are hazardous. Even telephones are type approved by NCC before they are allowed to be marketed to the consumers”, Abari emphasized to the large group of enthusiastic participants at the forum.
