The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded arrangements to host an event to mark the 2023 World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) in Abuja with a spotlight on its regulatory initiatives on clean energy usage in the telecoms sector.
In what has become a tradition in the Commission when it declared 2017 as Year of the Telecom Consumers, and honoured telecom consumers by connecting with the global theme to celebrate the Day with landmark activities, NCC has continued to promote consumer protection and enlightenment.
The World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated annually on March 15, as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights and needs. The theme of the 2023 edition: “Empowering Consumers through Clean Energy Transitions.”
According to the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, the theme provides opportunity for the NCC to share with telecom consumers, other stakeholders and the general public policies it has instituted, and other actions taken to encourage operators in the sector to transition to environmentally-friendly and renewable energy sources in their operations.
Adewolu, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, at the inauguration of the organising committee, said the Commission is committed to reducing the impact that telecommunications operation has on climate change and the environment.
He also noted that the peculiarities of Nigeria’s electricity supply have resulted in the telecommunications sector being a contributor to carbon emissions.
… The Commission was already looking at introducing a policy to encourage energy ethics, as part of its commitment to safeguarding the environment for consumers and other users of telecom services, toward the actualisation of some of the key objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Danbatta, who is a Fellow of the Renewable Alternative Energy Society (FRAES), said studies have shown that renewables and energy efficiency, boosted by substantial electrification can provide over 90% of the necessary reductions in energy-related carbon emissions.
He said increasing the use of electricity sourced from renewables presents the best opportunity to accelerate the world’s energy transition.
“The theme is very apt this year, as we know the implication of the climate change disaster facing the world. So, as a Commission, we are committed to reducing the impact of climate change.
“The telecoms sector contributes to global emissions, particularly when you realize that there are over 54,000 base transmitter stations powered, in some cases 24 hours seven days a week, by generators. You can just imagine the emissions from these,” Danbatta said.
He explained that the Commission was already looking at introducing a policy to encourage energy ethics, as part of its commitment to safeguarding the environment for consumers and other users of telecom services toward the actualisation of some of the key objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The EVC further noted that in recent years, NCC introduced a regulatory framework on infrastructure sharing and collocation among the licensees, which has encouraged operators to fully maximise their already-deployed infrastructure.
“By sharing infrastructure, some operators do not need to entirely build a telecoms site in an area where another operator had deployed one. With the challenge of inadequate public electricity supply in Nigeria, telecom companies rely on diesel-powered generators to keep their telecom sites live round-the-clock. But a regulatory framework such as infrastructure sharing and collocation is helping in this regard,” he said.
