The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has recorded the destruction of over 50,000 telecom facilities across the country in the past five years.

The NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed this at the 2022 edition of Youth Civil Society and Stakeholders Summit (YCSSS) which was held at the Army Resource Centre in Abuja.

Danbatta, who expressed worry over how the incidents have continued to affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) of consumers, called for concerted efforts by the general public and security agencies to stem the tide.

The NCC boss, who was represented at the event by the Head, Corporate Communication Unit of the commission, Nnena Ukoha, said the negative impact of incessant vandalism of telecom equipment, evidenced in fibre cuts, theft of telecom facilities like generators at sites, vandalism of base stations, among other vices, have become a major burden on the service providers, while telecom consumers have continued to suffer unwarranted disruptions of their hard-earned services.

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“The impact of vandalism of infrastructure is felt by all in the quality of services rendered, as it results in increasing drop calls, data and Internet connectivity disruptions, aborted and undelivered short messaging services (SMS), as well as countless failed calls”, he said.

Danbatta added considering the well-known fact that the ability to connect and communicate is fundamental to human existence, improvement in business processes, government services, education, as well as social and family networking through seamless connections, every community should get involved in protecting the critical infrastructure that makes these services possible.

The NCC boss said: “Therefore, as a community, you are expected to report cases of vandalism of telecoms infrastructure to the nearest law enforcement agencies such as the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and also share adequate information received from NCC with your family, friends, and neighbours.

“We believe, with your cooperation as critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector, we can all work with the law enforcement authorities in protecting telecom infrastructure in your community.”

The Star