Commentary NATCOM Bites Hard For Once The National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) was established by an Act of Parliament to serve as the regulatory body for all GSM operators in Sierra Leone. This was done by the then government of late President Ahmed Tejan Kabba to ensure that there is a level playing field in mobile telephony immediately after the country’s civil war. The role of regulating mobile companies has not gone without challenges having to do with the compliance of some GSM operators adhering to their tax obligations and other duties. There were times when the commission had to come in to take some hard decisions by levying fines on these GSM companies. In most cases defaulting companies had to pay huge sums of money to settle these fines. Many a time there has also been complaints from the general public of poor network service delivery by the companies, the reasons these companies have been summoned to Parliament to explain the facilities in their networks. There have also been complaints of high tariff deduction by some of these companies and numerous unnecessary messages on the cell phones of subscribers and several other reservations. So the Commission has to contend with all these issues regulating GSM companies in a third world and there was no way the Commission could have withdrawn the licenses of some of these defaulting companies. When some companies violated some of the Commission‘s regulations and still find themselves in the market, it was as a result of government’s resolve to encourage investors. The people of Sierra Leone spent 10 years fighting a senseless rebel war when other countries were making progress in the telecommunications sector. The mobile company actually started operation in the country at the beginning of the end of the rebel war. In such circumstances, the Commission always needs to take a hard look before taking any decision and this can only happen after all other measures would have failed. The reign of the former Minister and Chairman of the Commission was also one of the successes as it stood tall in regulating mobile companies and as issuing licenses to radio and television stations. Little did people know that the Commission can be so vibrant? The former Minister of Information and Communications proved critics wrong and his legacy lives on until the time President Koroma made some changes in that Commission. Some people would argue that the action of the commission to suspend the license of COMUIM came rather too late but the same critics have failed to realize that there are procedures to withdraw the operating license of a company or suspend it as in the case of COMIUM. What remains unclear to the public is who would be responsible to settle the indebtedness of COMIUM? This is the worry of those affected by this action. Now that the commission has concluded that, the company can no longer meet its debt obligations, one may be tempted to ask who will settle these arrears. The COMIUM management has not been heard explaining anything to the general public as to how they would come out of this quagmire and the company has kept on dragging its feet with the commission left with no option but to suspend its license. This is a bold step and could also be in the interest of the owners of that debt ridden company. This further buttresses the saying that Africa needs strong Institutions not leaders, because leaders come and go but institutions remain. Sierra Leone for instance is one such country that needs such institutions. Commentary NATCOM Bites Hard For Once The National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) was established by an Act of Parliament to serve as the regulatory body for all GSM operators in Sierra Leone. This was done by the then government of late President Ahmed Tejan Kabba to ensure that there is a level playing field in mobile telephony immediately after the country’s civil war. The role of regulating mobile companies has not gone without challenges having to do with the compliance of some GSM operators adhering to their tax obligations and other duties. There were times when the commission had to come in to take some hard decisions by levying fines on these GSM companies. In most cases defaulting companies had to pay huge sums of money to settle these fines. Many a time there has also been complaints from the general public of poor network service delivery by the companies, the reasons these companies have been summoned to Parliament to explain the facilities in their networks. There have also been complaints of high tariff deduction by some of these companies and numerous unnecessary messages on the cell phones of subscribers and several other reservations. So the Commission has to contend with all these issues regulating GSM companies in a third world and there was no way the Commission could have withdrawn the licenses of some of these defaulting companies. When some companies violated some of the Commission‘s regulations and still find themselves in the market, it was as a result of government’s resolve to encourage investors. The people of Sierra Leone spent 10 years fighting a senseless rebel war when other countries were making progress in the telecommunications sector. The mobile company actually started operation in the country at the beginning of the end of the rebel war. In such circumstances, the Commission always needs to take a hard look before taking any decision and this can only happen after all other measures would have failed. The reign of the former Minister and Chairman of the Commission was also one of the successes as it stood tall in regulating mobile companies and as issuing licenses to radio and television stations. Little did people know that the Commission can be so vibrant? The former Minister of Information and Communications proved critics wrong and his legacy lives on until the time President Koroma made some changes in that Commission. Some people would argue that the action of the commission to suspend the license of COMUIM came rather too late but the same critics have failed to realize that there are procedures to withdraw the operating license of a company or suspend it as in the case of COMIUM. What remains unclear to the public is who would be responsible to settle the indebtedness of COMIUM? This is the worry of those affected by this action. Now that the commission has concluded that, the company can no longer meet its debt obligations, one may be tempted to ask who will settle these arrears. The COMIUM management has not been heard explaining anything to the general public as to how they would come out of this quagmire and the company has kept on dragging its feet with the commission left with no option but to suspend its license. This is a bold step and could also be in the interest of the owners of that debt ridden company. This further buttresses the saying that Africa needs strong Institutions not leaders, because leaders come and go but institutions remain. Sierra Leone for instance is one such country that needs such institutions.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 10:06:59 +0000
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