TheNewsGuru

Tag: Sunday Dare

  • ICT: NCC boss urges states to emulate Edo

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on every state in the country to emulate what the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, was doing in the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and telecommunications.

    Mr Sunday Dare, the Executive Commissioner (Stakeholders Management), made the call in Benin at the South-South Stakeholders Parliament with relevant agencies in charge of telecommunications matters.

    The stakeholders parliament has as its theme, “Optimising The Benefits of Telecoms Infrastructure in Nigeria”

    Dare in his keynote address at the forum, said that Edo had taken the lead role in the sector.

    He said the commission decided to hold the regional parliament in Benin, in-line with the passion of the state government to place ICT at the heart of governance.

    He particularly lauded the state for establishing the Ministry of Science and Technology, to enhance the pace of development.

    According to him, the recent commissioning of the Edo Technology Hub, is reputably the first state backed technology hub in the country.

    “I can recall that his excellency met with the NCC leadership in Abuja sometime this year, to explore opportunities for improving access to telecommunications infrastructure and providing Edo citizens with world class telecoms and ICT facilities.”

    Dare noted that choosing Edo State as the venue for the parliament is a strong reaffirmation of the state’s pride of place in ICT deployment.

    He said Edo had articulated a framework to attract robust telecoms infrastructure to drive manufacturing, education and other socio-economic activities.

    “NCC is already supporting the state with fiber connectivity and computer laboratory services in the College of Education in Benin City and the Institute of Continuing Education, in Abudu,” he stated.

    The NCC commissioner said the meeting would enable everyone to know that telecoms infrastructure was critical to the socio-economic progress of every state in Nigeria.

     

  • NCC urges telecoms operators to boost consumer experience

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on telecommunications operators to ensure that they boost consumer experience in the industry.

    The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, NCC, Mr Sunday Dare, made the call in Lagos, during the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) 4th Quarter Open Meeting.

    Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), NCC, Mrs Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, Dare said that a memorable consumer experience would ensure the adoption of technology in the country.

    The commissioner said that the Nigerian communications industry had reached a level of maturity both in terms of adoption, competitiveness and technology deployments.

    He said that the focus of the industry must change to accommodate new realities.

    According to him, with the industry’s current level of growth, focus must change from merely providing good customer service to assuring superior customer experience.

    “In this new era, customer’s Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) mean little if we cannot achieve the attitudinal and behavioural loyalty which ensures that consumers are confident to embrace technology to tap into the life-changing opportunities.

    “These are opportunities which will guarantee that our country develops and that our youths are able to compete with their peers throughout the world.

    “So we must ensure that the service delivery framework encourage their use, rather than pursue reactive policies.

    “In other words, the challenge before us now, which is ‘the challenge of consumer experience’, is to ensure that we proactively remove all impediments to technology adoption.

    “The challenge is that we identify Information and Communication Technology (lCT) pain points; even before they occur and that we address them before they become an issue.

    “All of these we must do so that our citizens can enjoy faster, safer and more productive use of new technologies and service delivery models. This is the totality of consumer experience, ‘’ he said.

    Dare said that smart service providers should not be told that sound ‘customer experience’ was a differentiating factor which guaranteed them competitive advantage.

    He said that the industry was in the middle of a global evolution, which continuously challenged old ways of doing things; hence, disruptive innovations were now being brought into the mainstream.

    The Immediate Past Chairman of ICAF, Prof. Felicia Monye, said that consumer advocacy had migrated from customer service to customer experience.

    Monye said that in times past, it was thought that rendering good customer service was sufficient to achieve and retain patronage.

    She said that today’s commerce had experienced remarkable changes including competition, globalisation and enhanced level of consumer awareness and expectations.

    According to her, these factors have necessitated the need to explore other ways of relating with customers.

    “A prominent identified way of achieving this is through moving from customer service to customer experience.

    “Customer experience measures how customers feel about a company in totality and includes the emotional, physical, psychological connection customers have with a brand.

    “It is not a one-off interaction but rather includes the entire customer life cycle and every touch point a customer has with a product or service,’’ she said.

     

  • Edo state pushes for robust telecoms infrastructure

    Edo state pushes for robust telecoms infrastructure

    The Government of Edo State and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have reaffirmed their commitment to work together to improve access to telecoms infrastructure and provide citizens of Edo State with world class telecoms and ICT facilities.

    This commitment was made during a meeting between the Executive Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and the NCC, led by the Commission’s Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, Mr Sunday Dare.

    In his welcome remarks at the meeting, which was held at the NCC headquarters on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, Mr. Dare commended the forward-looking policies of the Governor and assured him of the NCC’s readiness to support the achievement of the ICT aspirations of the State through the deployment of fiber infrastructure under the Commission’s InfraCo project and interventions by the Universal Service Provision Fund.

    He noted that the NCC is aggressively driving accessibility to telecoms networks at all nooks and crannies of the Federation.

    He, however, regretted that situation with multiple taxation and regulation in some States of the Federation is counter-productive for the States – this is because they end up losing substantial revenues and developmental opportunities which could have been stimulated with the presence of telecoms infrastructure.

    He assured the Governor that NCC is keen to partner Edo State to achieve win-win solutions in the overall interests of the good people of Edo State.

    In his remarks, the Governor noted that the Edo State Government is focused on exploring non-oil resources and has therefore articulated developmental priorities focusing on creating a sense of order (participative, accountable and open governance); and a sense of security, safety and stability necessary to attract requisite investments to develop the State.

    Since its developmental goals relies on the seamless availability of telecoms/ICT infrastructure, Edo State is passionate about the need to attract robust telecoms infrastructure to drive manufacturing, education and other socio-economic activities.

    As an example of the State’s forward-looking approach, the Governor noted that Edo State has always made provision for shared fiber ducts in its road projects and looks forward to engaging with NCC and operators to agree on fiber deployment projects and routes as necessary.

    During the meeting, the Executive Secretary of the USPF, Mr Ayuba Shuaibu confirmed that the USPF has evaluated and agreed to support the College of Education in Benin City and the Institute of Continuing Education in Abudu, Edo State with a grant to establish a computer laboratory and provide Optic Fiber Connectivity to the institutions.

    The Governor thanked the USPF for the gesture and emphasized that the State is committed to the deployment of technology solutions to enhance basic education delivery, skills development and economic opportunities for its citizens. Mr Dare assured the Governor of NCC’s support in this regard.

    The parties therefore agreed to explore opportunities for partnership in the deployment of telecoms infrastructure in Edo State in a manner that supports the State’s developmental objectives and provides citizens with access to fast, efficient and effective telecoms service whilst affording necessary protection for telecoms infrastructure in the State.

     

  • Government institutions lagging behind in adopting ICT – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has lamented the snail pace at which government institutions are adopting Information and Communication Technology (ICT), stressing the institutions have lagged behind far too long, and have to turn a new leaf.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, represented by the Executive Commissioner, Sunday Dare, made the lamentation at the Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series in Lagos.

    He noted that while “our youth have fully embraced ICT, our government, institutions both public and private are still in the process of adopting ICT in their operations and activities. Yet, the future lies in ICT. Nigeria must make deliberate policies that will accelerate ICT penetration.”

    While regretting the technology weaknesses among public institutions, he however disclosed that government has made some commendable strides in adopting ICT in various aspects of its operations.

    “However, a more systematic and accelerated approach will yield more dividends; create more opportunities and jobs for the economy and our teeming youth,” he stated.

    According to him, Nigeria is yet to acquire the full dividends of the ICT revolution.

    “Nigeria, though already plugged into the ICT ecosystem, is yet to harvest fully the dividends of the ICT revolution sweeping across the world,” Danbatta said, adding that ICT has become a one-stop shop for modern tools of development, innovation, employment opportunities and for a smarter world.

    He said that as the world moved towards the Fifth Generation (5G) revolution and the Internet of Things (IoT), Nigeria must embrace fully the opportunities offered by the ICT.

    The NCC EVC said that Nigeria’s ICT initiatives must focus on cyber crimes, cyber security, indigenous software development, digital multimedia platforms, amongst others.

    Convener of BoICT, Ken Nwogbo, said that the lecture is aimed at charting the way forward for the ICT sector in order to put the country on the global ICT map.

    Nwogbo said that the awards were to reward best practices and recognize outstanding contributions to the growth of the sector.