Naomi Uzor
23 October 2008
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry(LCCI) has called on the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC)) to take urgent action against the influx of fake and substandard General System for Mobile Communication (GSM) handsets and other Information Technology (ICT) products in the country.
The Chamber's President, Chief Solomon Onafowokan, who made the call during the annual symposium on ICT organised by LCCI, applauded the NCC for driving reform in the telecom sector which has increased the number of fixed and mobile lines from less than 500,000 to over 50 million.
He however lamented the increasing number of fake and substandard GSM handsets and computer peripherals in the country which has become a major concern, and therefore, urged NCC to take appropriate action arrest the situation .
"The ICT sector is vital and critical to any economy and this is even more so in an emerging economy like ours. The sector has impacted positively on the economy in several ways. It has created a lot of jobs, directly and indirectly.
It has contributed remarkably to the improvements in the productivity and efficiency of operations in other sectors of the economy. ICT skills and expertise have also improved in recent years," said LCCI President. The Executive vice chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, said the commission would continue keeping up with development in the industry, balance the expectations of all stakeholders and enforce rules and regulation.
Represented by Executive Commisioner Licensing & Consumer Affairs, Engr. Stephen Bello, Ndukwe noted that no sector of the economy is completely independent, so is ICT.
"There is need to synchronize regulatory policies across all sectors that have effect on one another. The greatest regulatory challenge facing the ICT sector is the harmonization of its polices and carrying other regulatory bodies along at equal pace and tempo. When one lags behind, it slows down the other sectors" he stated.
He said the NCC has outlined specific suggestions on ICT regulation which is that regulation on local content and local manpower should be enacted for the ICT industry, patent and copy right law should be strengthened, indigenisation of all aspects of ICT industry must be encouraged, review of investment laws, development and publication of equipment standards in order to encourage local production, there will be need to make special provision for financing ICT industry and centers of excellence for ICT studies/research should be established in selected universities and that ministry of education must come up with the right corriculum and polices., for the sector as huge opportunities exists for growth in the area of research and development, product and design development and even manufacturing.
He said specific industries in the sector include semi-conductor and microelectronics, chipsets, software development, SIM card manufacture, handset manufacturing, keyboard manufacturing and other computer peripheral. Harnessing this opportunities, he disclosed, will require an input of local and foreign investment, technology transfer, skills acquisitions, and indigenous research and development capability and local managerial skills.
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