Mr Abdullahi Maikano, the Director, Consumer Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Thursday said that the ‘Do Not Disturb’ (DND) initiative was a tool for telecommunications consumers’ empowerment.
Maikano spoke in Lagos during the Fourth Quarter Meeting/Open Forum of the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF), with the theme “Do-Not-Disturb (DND): Panacea To Unsolicited Messages”.
He said that with the DND 2442 code, telecommunications subscribers could stop the receipt of unwanted and disturbing telemarketing messages or calls from service providers.
According to him, the issue of unsolicited messages, both voice and text, took centre stage at the 2015 open forum of ICAF.
“Part of the communique adopted at the end of the meeting was that the NCC should meet with operators to address the issue, without any further delay.
“I am therefore happy to report that consultations with the industry led to the adoption of the Do Not Disturb (DND) initiative.
“All network operators have now activated a short code, 2442, to enable consumers manage the type of messages coming into their phones,” he said.
The director said that the theme of the forum had been deliberately chosen, in order to keep the conversation about the menace of unsolicited messages on the front burner.
He added that putting the conversation on the front burner would help to put the issue behind, as quickly as possible.
The chairperson of ICAF, Mrs Laetitia Akinlami, said that the issue of unsolicited commercial messages had plagued the telecommunications consumers for a very long time.
Akinlami commended the efforts of the regulatory body, NCC, at facilitating the development of a platform aimed at reducing the scourge of unsolicited messages, as experienced by a vast majority of consumers.
She said that in the past year, the issue had been on the front burner of ICAF’s discussions and consequently, its recommendations to the commission.
“We are all seeing the results today, which has considerably reduced the rate of unsolicited commercial messages,” Akinlami said.
She said that ICAF was constituted and inaugurated on February 10, 2009 to act in an advisory capacity and make recommendations to the commission on issues of interest and concern to ICT consumers.
The chairperson said that since its inauguration, the forum had made several valuable contributions and recommendations on concerns affecting consumers.
Akinlami said that such concerns include SIM card registration, mobile money and Mobile Number Portability (MNP). (NAN)
