N70billion+ interconnect debts Worries Dambatta

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Garba Danbatta, has expressed displeasure over the huge interconnect debts being owed by various Mobile Network operators (MNOs).

The EVC while urging telecom operators in the country to settle their debts, noted that this should be resolved as part of measures to cushion the challenges faced by players in the industry.

Danbatta made the called at the maiden edition of the National Dialogue on Telecoms and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sectors in Nigeria organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) on Thursday in Abuja.

The EVC said the “interconnectivity indebtedness valued at over N70 billion is a big challenge to infrastructure expansion and inimical to healthy competition” which are needed for facilitating digital economy in Nigeria.

Speaking as lead presenter on the theme: “National Funding and Investment Strategy for Broadband Infrastructure and Digital Economy”, Danbatta gave the theme a sharper by focusing on what the Commission had done in the last five years, especially in stimulating the development of resilient ICT infrastructure and the benefits these regulatory efforts have brought to the economy.