NCC wants new laws for telecoms operations

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) wants more laws for more effective regulation of the telecommunications sector.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah,, said that despite the robustness of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), some other laws are still required to support activities of the sector.

He was  addressing judges at the workshop organised for them on legal issues in telecommunications.

According to him, the  commission is looking forward to the passage of the cybercrime law to support its efforts at increasing cyber security.

NCC was in support of a data protection law to secure the database created during the SIM card registration exercise, the commission's boss said..

Juwah, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, Mr. Okechukwu Itanyi, commended the effort of the National Assembly towards passing a law on radioactive emissions in order to enlighten members of the public, some of whom were still thinking that all telecoms equipment emitted hazardous materials.

The NCC boss said: 'As a major player in the economic reforms going on in our country today, NCC appreciates that no such reforms will stand the test of time without the foundation of due process and rule of law.

'That is the philosophy behind the bold step in exposing our judges to issues in telecommunications law.'

In his address, the Administrator, National Judicial Institute, Justice Umaru Eri, said in the last couple of years, Nigeria had witnessed a lot of transformation in the telecoms industry but not without some legal issues emanating from them.

'Just recently, the country witnessed yet another milestone in the telecoms industry, which is number portability. This development, among other innovations, will surely generate some legal issues for determination by courts in a few days ahead,' he said.

For the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, Josephine Amuwa, the structure of the telecommunications market determined to a large extent the behaviour of the operators and also influenced the performance of the market with respect to profitability and efficiency.

Amuwa, who spoke on 'Legal and Regulatory Issues in Mobile Number Portability', said in accordance with the NCA 2003, the NCC had the primary objective to create and provide a competitive regulatory framework for the Nigerian communications industry, stressing that the commission had a mandate to promote fair competition in the industry and promote the interests of consumers.