Mandatory 40k monthly fee for mobile phones blacklisting service wrong

[afam]

The agreement reached between a service provider Netvisa and the NCC to charge every single mobile phone line in Nigeria 40k every month for a mobile phone blacklisting service is wrong and should be made optional for subscribers who want to benefit from the service.

Forcing people to pay for services they never subscribed to, services they are not even interested in subscribing to or services they don't need is wrong and considering the fact that money is involved here may be looked at as a scheme to rob Nigerians of their money without having the opportunity to say no or yes to the plan.

The issue of a mobile phone blocking service has been on for many years even though it was clear that the GSM Operators did not want to implement this as it would affect sales of lines which they were not ready to gamble with otherwise why would any credible operator oppose or refuse to implement solutions that would discourage the stealing of phones?

Now that we have a plan to implement this phone blacklisting service in Nigeria we must not allow either the NCC, the service provider Netvisa or the GSM Operators to make the 40k monthly charge mandatory for Nigerians because in reality there will be Nigerians who will not need the service at all and I doubt if such Nigerians would want to pay for something they don't need.

As a Nigerian using a GSM phone I dare state that I do not want to be charged 40k per month for this service and see no reason why my money should be taken and given to a company for a service I do not need.

Some of us may reason that since the amount is small that it doesn't matter but while this reasoning may make sense in some scenarios I still believe that it does not make sense in this one simply because taking money from someone against his/her will surely amounts to stealing or robbing.

40k x 65 million lines = N26,000,000.00 (N26M) per month

Or N312,000,000.00 = (N312M) per year

While I would not begrudge any Nigerian business entity for making money from any services rendered (as long as it is legitimate) I will oppose any attempt to charge Nigerians for services they may not want to benefit from.

Put differently, the decision to take a subscriber's money every month should be made by the subscriber and not the NCC, GSM Operators or the service provider.

If nothing else, the subscriber should respected and not treated as a pawn in a chess board where the subscriber is used as a tool to win a financial war.

By not allowing the Nigerian subscriber to decide whether or not to take part in this blacklisting service the bodies responsible for the agreement thus far reached may be accused of doing so strictly based on financial returns.

As for the service provider's statement that the mandatory 40k monthly fee is backed by NCC I must state that such backing doesn't make the decision a right one just as we have seen a recent frequency auction plan cancelled by the FG.

Let us learn to do what is right, it is not impossible to do so. There is plenty money to be made in all sectors of the Nigerian economy if only Nigerians will begin to see the huge problems here and there as opportunities to make money and provide reliable service at the same time.

Bottomline is this - the initiative is good, makes a lot of business sense but charging every subscriber (even against the subscriber's will) is wrong. The service should be based on subscription with the flexibility to opt in and opt out of the service whenever the subscriber wants to.

http://afamnnaji.com/articles/article_detail.php?id=60

[emj]

Originally Posted by afam

The agreement reached between a service provider Netvisa and the NCC to charge every single mobile phone line in Nigeria 40k every month for a mobile phone blacklisting service is wrong and should be made optional for subscribers who want to benefit from the service.

Forcing people to pay for services they never subscribed to, services they are not even interested in subscribing to or services they don't need is wrong and considering the fact that money is involved here may be looked at as a scheme to rob Nigerians of their money without having the opportunity to say no or yes to the plan.

The issue of a mobile phone blocking service has been on for many years even though it was clear that the GSM Operators did not want to implement this as it would affect sales of lines which they were not ready to gamble with otherwise why would any credible operator oppose or refuse to implement solutions that would discourage the stealing of phones?



Now that we have a plan to implement this phone blacklisting service in Nigeria we must not allow either the NCC, the service provider Netvisa or the GSM Operators to make the 40k monthly charge mandatory for Nigerians because in reality there will be Nigerians who will not need the service at all and I doubt if such Nigerians would want to pay for something they don't need.

As a Nigerian using a GSM phone I dare state that I do not want to be charged 40k per month for this service and see no reason why my money should be taken and given to a company for a service I do not need.

Some of us may reason that since the amount is small that it doesn't matter but while this reasoning may make sense in some scenarios I still believe that it does not make sense in this one simply because taking money from someone against his/her will surely amounts to stealing or robbing.

40k x 65 million lines = N26,000,000.00 (N26M) per month

Or N312,000,000.00 = (N312M) per year

While I would not begrudge any Nigerian business entity for making money from any services rendered (as long as it is legitimate) I will oppose any attempt to charge Nigerians for services they may not want to benefit from.

Put differently, the decision to take a subscriber's money every month should be made by the subscriber and not the NCC, GSM Operators or the service provider.

If nothing else, the subscriber should respected and not treated as a pawn in a chess board where the subscriber is used as a tool to win a financial war.

By not allowing the Nigerian subscriber to decide whether or not to take part in this blacklisting service the bodies responsible for the agreement thus far reached may be accused of doing so strictly based on financial returns.

As for the service provider's statement that the mandatory 40k monthly fee is backed by NCC I must state that such backing doesn't make the decision a right one just as we have seen a recent frequency auction plan cancelled by the FG.

Let us learn to do what is right, it is not impossible to do so. There is plenty money to be made in all sectors of the Nigerian economy if only Nigerians will begin to see the huge problems here and there as opportunities to make money and provide reliable service at the same time.

Bottomline is this - the initiative is good, makes a lot of business sense but charging every subscriber (even against the subscriber's will) is wrong. The service should be based on subscription with the flexibility to opt in and opt out of the service whenever the subscriber wants to.

http://afamnnaji.com/articles/article_detail.php?id=60

I dont quite get it..dont they already have this feature in their network? .charging people for being on a network that has the added feature to block stolen handset is daylight robbery...but then, it's nigera were anything goes...hope the consumer protection agency if there's a voice like that will step up campaign against it..

Eherm..found dis jokers...CAFON

http://nspace.nigeria.com/main/news/...ervice-nigeria

[iamgod]

whew!!!!!

Thot u actually meant #40,000.00

Well Im certain if 40 kobo was deducted from airtime monthly, millions of people may not even notice.

[afam]

Originally Posted by iamgod

whew!!!!!

Thot u actually meant #40,000.00

Well Im certain if 40 kobo was deducted from airtime monthly, millions of people may not even notice.

I agree that millions of people will not notice but for those of us that will not want anyone taking our hard earned money without our consent we will notice and complain.

Services like this one should be by choice and not by force.

[Showcase]

Originally Posted by iamgod

whew!!!!!

Thot u actually meant #40,000.00

Me too. I momentarily thought of that amount. However, if it is not right, it is not right; the amount notwithstanding. The nature of greed is that while it is 40Kobo today, if it is allowed to stay, it will be N40 in no time. Even the N40,000 mark may be reached in our lifetime. It is therefore a matter of principles, not amount.

[afam]

Seems the government has suspended this crazy plan.

http://www.technologytimesng.com/pos...eme-by-netvisa

FG suspends paid mobile phone anti-theft scheme by Netvisa
Views:209 since Tuesday, September 8, 2009


By Shina Badaru

Abuja. September 8, 2009. The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to suspend the ongoing anti-theft scheme following the public uproar over the mandatory monthly payment of 40kobo on all mobile phone lines in the country to a private company, Netvisa GSM Secured Limited.

Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili told Technology Times in an exclusive interview that the Ministry, in consideration of overriding public interest, has issued a directive to NCC that the Netvisa scheme be suspended for the next three weeks to review the positions of all stakeholders including the regulator, service provider, mobile operators and the community of mobile phone users in the country.

According to her, the Ministry held a meeting with NCC leadership Monday in the wake of overwhelming feedback from operators and members of the public who have complained that NCC ignored offers by operators that the paid service could have been offered free of charge to Nigerian mobile phone users by operators.

Technology Times had last month reported exclusively that two of the nation’s biggest mobile phone companies, MTN Nigeria and Zain Nigeria have sealed an interconnectivity agreement with Netvisa that was solely licensed by NCC to offer the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR), a development that places a community of over 42million out of Nigeria’s estimated 65million mobile phone users on the paid service.

According to the Minister, “it was on TV that I saw the kick-starting of the programme by NCC and Netvisa”, noting that even though the programme was laudable against the background of rampant theft of mobile phones in the country, there was need to review the position of stakeholders who have complained about the service being offered as a mandatory paid service, “when operators have said that it could be offered free.”

According to Akunyili, stakeholders have also informed the Ministry that the mobile phone blacklisting service can be offered free by international bodies like the International Telecommunications Agency (ITU), the UN specialised agency supervising the global telecoms industry; the GSM Association, the global pressure group of GSM operators among others.

Under a deal brokered by NCC between Netvisa and operators, mobile operators will directly remit the monthly fee to the CEIR operator and deduct same from their annual numbering fees paid into government coffers through NCC over the next two years, in the first phase.

The arrangement was proposed by NCC to assuage protests by operators that they can offer the free of charge to subscribers by implementing a CEIR among themselves rather than license a third party to offer the same service at cost to phone users in the country.

At the expiration of the two-year commercial agreement, it is then expected that the monthly payment for blacklisting will now be deducted from the airtime of every subscriber monthly and remitted to Netvisa, which has come under criticism since it was issued a sole licence by NCC to offer the service.

The Minister said that upon enquiry, some operators have complained about the service saying they refused to “hook up because, there is an international body, ITU, that they pay dues to and this is how they can gain from their dues for that international body to do it free for Nigeria.”

Additionally, Akunyili said that NCC did not receive approval of the Ministry to make Nigerian taxpayers bear the burden of cost for the service under which every mobile phone line will be billed 40kobo monthly following the regulator’s acceptance to have operators net off the cost from their annual numbering fee paid government.

Moving forward, Akunyili said that the Ministry awaits a full briefing from NCC on the matter and promised that other stakeholder groups would be consulted to ensure that a position that takes care of the interest of Nigerian consumers is arrived at before government takes a final decision on the issue of mobile phone blacklisting for Nigerian phone users.

Based on official statistics obtained by Technology Times, active mobile subscriber base on GSM and CDMA mobile networks in the country peaked reached 66,418,011 lines at Q2, 2009, a development that will see Netvisa raking in some N26.5million and N320million in monthly and annual earnings respectively from subscribers when all other mobile operators join MTN and Zain in interconnecting the CEIR network.

The emergence of Netvisa has been flayed by operators and other stakeholders who say that the option of payment being implemented in Nigeria for the blacklisting service will only put more burdens on phone users in the country.

With the signing of the interconnectivity pact with MTN Nigeria and Zain Nigeria, Netvisa has been given some 42million out of the community of 66million active mobile subscriber in the Nigerian telecoms market at Q2, 2009, a figure representing the crème of the market’s estimated 68million active subscribers during the same period.

NCC had pegged the rate of 40kobo per subscriber for the phone blocking service after Netvisa’s proposal for a higher price was resisted by operators that also expressed dissatisfaction with the selection process that saw the emergence of Netvisa as the preferred candidate to provide the single database of blacklisted phones in the country.

One of the grouse expressed is that the selection process was not thrown open to a competitive tender while another issue is the suggestion that the sole provider, Netvisa, lacks the track record or experience to perform the scale of service that it is being expected to carry out for the Nigerian telecoms market.

However topping the list of complaints is operators’ disagreement that subscribers should have to pay for such a service, especially as some operators are willing to provide the same service for free.

Hitherto, telecoms operators have sent position papers to the NCC that they can individually block phones on their networks with their individual blacklisting but without the scheme running across rival networks the stolen phone blocked on one network can still be used on other networks. To let this work, they had recommended that NCC issued regulatory directives urging all operators to collaborate in simultaneously implementing the blacklisting service to ensure its effectiveness.

In pushing for a case against a paid blacklisting service, operators have also queried why all mobile phone subscribers should be charged for a service that only a few will use as they noted that not all subscribers are likely to fall victim of phone theft.