The Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) has awarded the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta for supporting engineering technology in Nigeria.

The award was presented by the NAE President, Prof. Alex Ogedegbe, to Danbatta in Lagos during the 2021 Academy Technology Dinner/Lecture.

Speaking to technology writers at the event, Danbatta noted that over the years, the NCC as a government agency has played several intervention roles in the area of engineering technology in the country by helping to boost productivity.

He stated that the Commission has provided capacity building opportunities in engineering technology in high institutions across Nigeria, adding that such support has helped to boost the economy of the country through the launch of engineering technology innovation.

The EVC who thanked the board of the NCC and members of staff of the Commission for their support assured Nigerians that the Commission would continue to give support to engineering technology in the nation’s tertiary institutions.

He further stated that no part of the country should be denied access to telecoms services in whatever part they live noting that the regulator would continue to monitor and enforce the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) issued to the telecoms operators as a measure of ensuring quality of services (QoS) and avoiding drop calls.

He also assured that the NCC has the capacity to monitor the KPIs across the country, saying that in situation where the Mobile Network Operators in the provision of service fall short of the accepted standard of QoS, the Commission always draw their attention to the KPIs but that sanction is the last option open the Operator.

He however said that in the under-served areas, that the QoS is expected to be poor saying that the NCC is also mindful of the situations in the areas that are under-served and lacks economic viability.