The Federal Ministry of Communications Technology has ended the stand-off between the Lagos State government and the telcos, acting under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
The deal will remove all the constraints to installation, rollout and deployment of base transmission stations (BTS) and fibre optic cable (OFC) in the state.
The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson and the Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) with some officials of ALTON struck a deal to end the long standing feud existing between them over spurious charges, levies, multiple taxation, harassment and forceful closure of BTS.
After a closed door meeting at the State House over the weekend, the issues of multiple taxes, levies, decommissioned BTS and Right of Way (RoW) fees, factors which the operators say have been mitigating against quality of service in the state addressed dispassionately.
Also in attendance at the meeting were Commissioner of Science and Technology, Mr Biyi Mabadeje, Commissioner of Works, Mr Obafemi Hamzat and officials from Etisalat, Main One, MTN and Globacom.
According to a statement signed by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister, Efem Nkanga, ATCON members expressed concerns over the issue of decommissioned sites and others, arguing that these issues were making it difficult for operators to rollout the much needed ICT infrastructure in Lagos state.
In his response, Governor Fashola said infrastructure rollout and deployment was in the best interest of residents of Lagos State, adding that it is not the wish of the state to prevent operators from rolling out.
No comments:
Post a Comment