Telecom
By Aisha Gambo
Kaduna, May 31, 2018(NAN) The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday called on the public to do away with the misconception that the Base Transceiver Stations(BTS) was harmful to human health.
Mr Tanimu Bawa, the Kano Zonal Controller of NCC, made the call at the Consumer Conversation Forum organised by the NCC in collaboration with National Orientation Agency (NOA).
According to Bawa, many people have been sold the fallacious idea that BTS installation emits Electro-Magnetic Force (EMF) harmful to human health, which is not true.
He said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) together with other health research institutes, which made researches on the effect of BTS on human health, had not found any link between emissions from BTS and any terminal illness.
“Reputable world organisations have over the years been carrying out extensive researches on the alleged harmful effects of telecom radio-magnetic emissions.
“And so far, their published reports have not established any link between emissions from BTS and terminal illness like cancer and other body organ failure.
“While, the WHO has classified such emissions as least likely poisonous, the emissions from BTS antennas are no more than the ones emitted by the television sets, radio sets and light bulbs in our houses,” he said.
The zonal controller said that the commission had set a standard for the installation of BTS which was in line with international best practices guiding the installation of masts and towers.
He however urged community members to support service providers in building more masts and towers in order to achieve maximum availability of network.
He also urged subscribers to call “622”, a toll free line established by NCC for consumers to escalate their complainants when not satisfied with the resolution by their network operators.
“The 622 line is accessible from Monday to Friday from 8a.m. to 5p.m., excluding public holidays. However, the first level or channel of complaints is to consumer’s service providers,” he stated.
Earlier, the State Coordinator NOA, Mr Zubair Galadima-Soba said that the interactive forum was aimed at addressing issues relating to network services in the country.
He said that NOA and NCC would do their best in making sure that the public enjoyed good, affordable and reliable network services.
Meanwhile, some consumers present at the event expressed dismay over the high tariff and unreasonable deduction of monies from their phone accounts.
Hassan Abdullahi said: “Data meant for one month does not last for a week, I have compared all the networks and it’s the same thing. I am calling on the NCC to step up and address the issue. ”
Rahab Aliyu on her part, expressed dismay over the deduction of money for unsolicited subscription which most often were not refunded even after complainants to customer service.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NCC consumer conversation forum was the first Edition in 2018 for Kano Zone, which covers North-West and North-East.(NAN)
AMG/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf