The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has identified some of the major challenges facing telecommunication companies including multiple taxation and destruction of their facilities by vandals.
The Executive Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, said this at a media chat with stakeholders in the industry in Kano on Saturday.
He also promised to establish an emergency communication centre in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, saying this was necessary to boost emergency response.
The NCC boss said the commission, under his leadership, had increased the amount of research grants given to universities from N20 million to N30 million, pointing out that three universities had benefited from the new grant.
He added, “NCC as a regulator is mindful of the fact that telecom is an enabler and catalyst for the economic advancement of the country and has consistently made available affordable and accessible telecom service to check certain telecom barriers.
“The challenges being faced by the commission include 41 categories of taxes imposed on telecommunications companies and wilful destruction of our facilities”.
