USERS of Internet services in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, want the National Assembly to enact a law that would spell out stringent guidelines to discourage communication companies from willfully exploiting Nigerians through poor service delivery.
The call stems from the failure of one of the GSM companies, MTN, to provide cogent justification for the difficulty experienced by subscribers in assessing the Internet for over 48 hours, despite having paid for the service.
Frustrated by the epileptic service, one of the subscribers, Uffonme Umana, said it was time the National Assembly rose up to its statutory responsibility to promulgate a law that would prevent communication companies from exploiting Nigerians.
He argued that a situation whereby Nigerians were asked to pay upfront for Internet service, which, at the end of the day, turn out to be grossly unreliable, should never be condoned by the country’s highest legislative body.
Umana said: “This is exploitation. MTN demands that we pay upfront, yet we consider it extremely difficult to access the Internet for a service paid for. The company and others in the telecommunication business are merely ripping off innocent hardworking Nigerians; we are being exploited.”
Similarly, James Daniel urged the National Assembly to restrict companies like MTN to basically focusing on GSM services. He argued that it was preposterous for regulators of the communication to have granted the GSM companies the right to provide services whereas they have continued to fail Nigerians in terms of service delivery.
And piqued by the inability of the Nigeria Communication Commission to decisively tackle the issue of poor service delivery, Daniel canvassed the benevolent intervention of the National Assembly to save millions of Nigerians being exploited on daily basis from further economic losses.
The rage stems from MTN’s insistence that customers should prepay for the Internet service, which according to the users, has proved to be grossly inefficient and unreliable.
Mr. George Norman, while expressing dissatisfaction with the poor quality of service, called on government to closely monitor the activities of the communication companies. He explained that it was morally offensive for the government to remain indifferent while her tax paying citizens are mindlessly subjugated by companies that whose primary objective is profit maximisation.
“The government of Nigeria cannot continue to remain uninterested while some corporate entities explore the loopholes in our legal system to dupe Nigerians. This inhumane and cruel exploitation must stop. Companies should not earn money for services not rendered. It is worse than armed robbery.”
For Jim Ejiro, the National Assembly ought to probe the claims by some of the communication companies on 3G service provision. She said this has become imperative because the quality of service rendered in the country falls short of this claim.
“All these claims about 3G should be investigated,” she said. If actually it is 3G will do we figure it difficult to make calls, not to talk of assessing the Internet.
The country’s lawmakers must take their responsibilities seriously. What is happening in the communication sector is neo-slavery. We work for the money and they enjoy the fruits of our labour.”
When The Guardian called the customer care centre of MTN, a staff who identified himself as Bolaji, could not offer reasons for the problem.