CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
In recent years, the capacity and speed of telecommunications[1](telecoms) networks have grown exponentially. The capacity and speed of telecoms networks have multiplied over the years and this is not unconnected with technological growth and developments. The basic tools for these technological growth and developments are telecommunications. It cannot be overemphasised, therefore, as the saying goes that the world is fast becoming a global village of which telecoms is a key player.Telecoms is the engine of the world economy with transactions in billions of dollars being done over the telephone and the Internet. The Telecoms sector is one of the sectors that continue to grow and develop despite the economic situation in the world.The sector is developed regardless of geographical position, government and the state of economy. Telecoms is one of the most important infrastructures essential to the socio-economic wellbeing of any nation. The globalization of world economy has further amplified the importance of telecoms to the economy. The phenomenal growth of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) since its introduction in Nigeria in 2001 confirms the fact that telecoms has impacted much in the society.[2] Due to the pivotal roles of telecoms in the economic growth and development in Nigeria, contemporary issues regarding quality of service evidently arise, which need urgent attention to ensure the effectiveness, efficiency and contribution telecoms to the world economy. The resultant effect of this is the need to reform telecoms sector, hence, the liberalisation and privatisation of the telecoms sector.
Notwithstanding the need for reforms and regulatory frameworks for telecoms, the embryonic nature of quality of service implementation in Nigeria and some other developing economies have posed serious challenges towards the protection of telecoms consumers in Nigeria. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with a population of about 167 million and an area of approximately 923,768sq km[3]. The potentials in Nigeria are numerous, the same way China can be compared to Nigeria with regards to purchasing power parity and second largest economy by nominal GDP as Nigeria is a major market concerning the telecommunications sector in Africa.[4] Nigeria stands a better chance of attracting investors to invest in the economy especially in the telecommunications sector and become the China in Africa because it is one of the top ten fastest growing telecoms market in the world.[5] The Nigerian Telecommunications Sector is the fastest growing Sector in Nigeria.[6]It is large in terms of size compared to those of some African countries[7].Currently, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that active lines in Nigeria stood at 151,017,244 for the month of December,2015.
Prior to the bid for Digital Mobile Licences (DML) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), Nigeria had the lowest telephone penetration[8] in the world after Mongolia and Afghanistan.[9] The nation and its people had been starved of access to basic telephone services and eagerly awaited the commercial launch of the telephone licenses. However, the poor state of the industry began to be addressed in 1992 when the telecommunications sector was opened up for liberalisation. The global trend in the market, which is towards deregulation and liberalisation of services, has been further accelerated by the signing of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which preceded it.These agreement oblige signatories to deregulate national telecommunications industries. Although Nigeria is not a signatory to this accord, she is a member of WTO, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an arm of the United Nations and the West African Telecommunications Regulatory Association (WATRA). It has been agreed[10] that the Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services will affect all ITU member states and sector members because the 72 countries which made the commitment collectively, account for more than 93% of global telecommunications revenue. The areas covered under the agreement include voice data fax, radio and satellite. These agreement progressively open up the telecommunications sector to deregulation and liberalisation.
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CONSUMER PROTECTION IN RELATION TO QUALITY OF SERVICE IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR IN NIGERIA
