NCC Meets Mobile Phones Traders in Kano

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Zonal Office of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Kano recently received members of the Association of Mobile Phones and Allied Products Traders of Nigeria (AMPAT) who came on a courtesy and familiarization visit.

The AMPAT delegation made up of the members of its Board of Trustees and the Executive Council explained that the visit was to get better acquainted with the operations of the commission and establish areas of collaboration especially to ensure sanity in the segment of the telecom market where their members operate.

At the moment, there are 24 specialised markets for downstream telecom devices and allied products in Kano State and more than 215 of such markets in the North West and North East geopolitical zones.

The association also requested that the Zonal Office to always invite representatives of AMPAT to all events of the commission so that its members can be informed about regulatory issues and other challenges in the telecom sector.

Mr Shuaibu Swade, Controller NCC Zonal Office in Kano, who led the NCC team that received AMPAT members, thanked group for the visit.

He informed them that their requests will be forwarded to management for necessary action, and told them he looked forward to a positive response because collaboration and partnership are at the heart of regulatory initiatives by the commission and a key item on the present management’s 8-point agenda.

Mr Swade also urged AMPAT to play a central role in self-regulation by ensuring that its members obtain appropriate licenses from the commission before they commence operations, and to ensure that they trade only in products that have been type approved by the commission.

The Zonal Controller also took advantage of the visit to educate AMPAT members about the type of licensees they may require and the processes involved in type approval of products.

At the moment, the North West and North East zones of NCC are in the purview of the Kano Zonal Office while other Zonal Offices of the commission in Lagos, Enugu, Ibadan and Port Harcourt are responsible for overseeing NCC operations in other parts of the country.

The Lagos Zonal Office oversees Lagos, Ogun and Edo States; Enugu Zonal Office is in charge of all the States in the South East zone; Ibadan Zonal Office oversees the remaining states in the South West Zone; Port Harcourt Zonal Office is in charge of all the states in the South-South geopolitical zone; and the states in the North Central zone are supervised directly by the Department of Zonal Operations at the head office which also coordinates the activities of all other zones.