FG STOPS LOTTERY BY GSM OPERATORS

*Says It Is Fraudulent!

The Federal Government has ordered the immediate stoppage of any type of promotional lotteries by mobile phone operators in the country.
The Minister of Information,Professor Dora Akunyili at a meeting with some of the stakeholders in her office regretted that telecom companies now re-defined their business focus from core telecom service provision to defacto lottery vendors.
She wondered: “Why should they employ all manners of tricks to lure unsuspecting subscribers into parting with their hard earned money with the promise of huge rewards.’’
The Minister noted that many of such promotions neither followed due process and nor approved by Nigeria Lottery Regulatory Commission.She warned the companies to equally stop invading subscriber’s privacy through unsolicited text messages.
Professor Akunyili clearly stated that the Federal Government of Nigeria is not oblivious of some challenges such as equipment compatibility and interoperability and promised to look into them in good time.
The Minister stated that the present administration was displeased with the poor quality of service of Mobile phone operators which has become a recurring decimal and promised to tackle them head on. She therefore directed the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to submit to her office within two weeks a comprehensive plan of action on how to improve quality of service.
Prof. Akunyili regretted that Drop calls have remained a problem despite constant appeals for improvement. Also, poor voice signal quality and reception are becoming peculiar to Nigeria. This, in turn wastes money and time as well as create image problem for the country.
This is because Nigerians are   seen as having a culture of shouting on phone instead of talking. Other areas identified by the Minister of concern to Nigerian telecom subscribers are high tariffs, number portability, which gives the Consumer the freedom of choice to move from one network to another without having to lose his/her number and the issue of Lottery.
On the issue of Towers and Masts, the Minister enjoined operators to abide by the regulations guiding their location and erection.  Also, the rights of other corporate and individual citizens should not be infringed upon. Similarly, adequate care must be taken to ensure that exhaust fumes from generators do to constitute health hazard.
Aside from stressing the imperative of consumer education on telecom products, services and packages, the Minister also mandated the NCC to demand that Operators submit education manuals to it for vetting on service bouquets before they are introduced into the market.