The Impact of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency on Consumer Protection in Nigeria

Abstract

The vulnerability of the consumer in the market place has been attributed largely to the superior position of the manufacturers or suppliers of goods and services. Regulatory Agencies in telecommunications are part of the administrative mechanism for strengthening the position of a Nigerian consumer who almost always is shortchanged by poor services and exploitative prices. The deregulation of the telecommunications sector despite its attendant utilities is still bedeviled with substantial consumer problems. Issues of drop calls, unsolicited adverts, network failure, and ineffective consumer complaint mechanism abound. This and many other problems have continued to attract the comments, remarks and opinions of members of the public and legal writers on the potency or otherwise of the regulatory agencies in telecommunications. This work appraises the legal relevance of the regulatory agencies in telecommunications with a view to repositioning them for better sector consumer protection. The work espouses that there is an urgent need to review telecommunications regulations particularly with respect to competition and unsolicited advertisements. The need for a review of the NCC Act, 2003 and the domestication of US TCPA 1991 has become inevitable. IntroductionThe concern of the regulatory agencies in the telecommunications industry is to ensure consumer satisfaction. Notwithstanding the deregulation of the industry and its attendant consequences, telecommunications services providers have been berated for consistently delivering poor services to subscribers in Nigeria [1]. An assessment of the performance of the telecommunications regulatory agencies in the area of consumer protection is aimed at determining the position of the consumer in the regulatory process. In doing this, it is necessary to discuss about the many stakeholders in the regulatory process.