Poor Quality of Service in the Nigerian telecommunications sector has always been a sore point with subscribers, with various explanations given as its cause.

According to the Chief Technical Officer (CTO), MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, "There are a number of factors responsible for quality of service.

"The operating environment is one of them; everything ranging from the security situation, transportation, infrastructure or a lack thereof, are responsible for quality of service."

He added that the tariff an operator offers can also affect the quality of service it renders.

He said: "When you reduce tariff, depending on the elasticity, and the appeal to the customers, you find that people may make a lot more calls than they previously had, under a higher tariff regime.

"This drives significantly more traffic on the network and as a consequence, if the traffic is more rapid than what was forecasted, it could lead to congestion on the network."

Concerns have however, been raised in many quarters that the barrage of promos and other games of chance engaged in by operators may be one factor responsible for poor quality of telecoms services, which, nevertheless had been basically ignored.

Since the Telcos started engaging in lotteries and promos, Quality of Service has been greatly affected. Dropped calls and poor connectivity have become regular features of telecoms services across the country.

A GSM subscriber, who spoke to The Nation complained that the previous week, she could neither make calls nor send text messages for a whole day. The subscriber who gave her name as Adeola said she was, however, infuriated when she got about eight promo and lottery messages sent to her by her operator.

She said: "Can you imagine? I could not make calls for a whole day; when I tried to send SMS they were not delivered. Yet, my GSM operator was able to send unsolicited messages to me.

"I had to use my other line to send the messages I needed to send. If they had enough bandwidth to send such SMSs, why didn't they make it available for us to use? Why should I be getting messages I did not ask for?"

But the President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr Deolu Ogunbanjo disagreed with Adeola saying, "Most of the lottery and promo invitations come as text messages, which do not consume much bandwidth. However, there should be provision for those who may want to opt out at anytime."

Last year, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) moved to tackle this by banning all lotteries and promos by telecommunications companies. The National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), the body charged with granting lottery permission to operators kicked against it, saying it was not in NCC’s place to ban lotteries.

The NCC said while promos are allowed under the guidelines published by the commission, with set minimum requirements and standards of advertisements and promotions, lotteries are excluded from such activities.

Though proceeds from lotteries and other games of chance provide funding to help address societal needs and support good cause in other countries where they are practised, the Nigerian scenario presents a picture of lotteries and promos as a way by which Telcos fleece subscribers to enrich themselves without remitting the stipulated percentage into the lottery trust fund.

The NLRC Act of 2005 states that 50 per cent of all monies realised from lotteries must go back to the consumers; 20 per cent must be sent to the Lottery Trust Fund, while the remaining 30 per cent goes to the operators to cover cost and profit.

This has largely not been complied with. According to Ogunbanjo, though lotteries and promos should be encouraged as obtained in other countries, there should be regulations to monitor who gets what and a way of unsubscribing to the services.

He said: "How are we sure the 30 per cent due subscribers go to them? Who monitors it?"

Chief Executive Officer of Programos Software, Mr Amos Emmanuel, noted that the conduct of lotteries and promos in the country showed NCC had lapsed in its duty of protecting subscribers.

He asked: "Are we sure the regulators whose role it is to authorise the telecom operators to organise marketing promotions have the interest of the people at heart?

"Do they have proper guidelines for marketing promotions by mobile network operators in accordance with international best practices of telecommunications regulators in other jurisdictions, thereby protecting consumers’ interest and preventing illegal lottery activities disguised as marketing promotions?"

He added that the NLRC was justified in its submission that permits granted to mobile operators to engage in brand, products and services promotions have been misused and exploited for generating profit, which is not linked to the promotion of mobile operator services, brands and products.

He said: "The reaction from the NLRC is not an allegation but a fact and experience of millions of Nigerian subscribers.

"Most times, subscribers are lured to play in some bonanza at exorbitant rates per text when in the end, no valid outcome benefits anyone.

"Sometimes the fraudulent approach is that one is asked to consume a certain amount of credit to qualify to win for example a pencil prize.

"I have facts that in some other countries’ promos, subscribers win millions of dollars worth of prizes fairly; as against our environment where you can be charged specially in the end to claim what you have been declared to have won, if not so mixed-up that you are robbed of the chance.

"Where then is the moral justification of these bonanzas? They could report they make huge investments into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in the country.

"It could have been nicer if they were not robbing Peter to pay Paul in that case. I am of the opinion that those types of games that demand money from subscribers as a condition for a chance to win are lotteries disguised by these telecom organisations as promotions and certainly should be sanctioned by the regulators."

He added that the congestion and poor quality of service the activities of Telcos cause should be managed through effective implementation of reforms by telecoms regulators.

According to him, "Congestion or poor quality of service of telecom companies are controllable communication demeanours by upright regulation in any desirable society.

"Noteworthy, is the fact that the nation has striven to put in place reforms via the current Telecommunication Policy Review exercise for implementation, hoping this will usher in better controls in the system and offer protection of subscribers."

A director at the NCC who did not wish to be named said NCC did not turn its eye to what Telcos are doing but were helpless because lotteries and games of chance were not under the commission’s jurisdiction.

He said: "Telcos can organise any kind of promo, but when it comes to lotteries, they need to seek the approval of the relevant regulatory body, in this case, the NLRC.

"It’s not as if the commission is not alive to its responsibility. Last year when we banned unsolicited lotteries and promos, they said it was not our duty to do so."

But, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop, said Airtel was not involved in any unapproved lottery operations.

Swaroop said: "Before we engage in lotteries and promos, we obtain approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC). Everything we do is within the ambit of the law."

A top official of Globacom, who pleaded for anonymity, also denied the involvement of the company in lotteries that are not approved by the relevant bodies.

He said: "To show you we have approval from the NCC, officials of the commission sometimes attend our draws.

"Even NLRC officials can testify to the transparency of our promos. Winners are always given whatever they win.

"It is this transparency of Glo promos that has endeared subscribers to it, that makes the text4millions popular."

According to the NLRC, the mobile licences granted by the NCC do not permit operators to operate lotteries or gambling. The commission however, said under the national lottery Act of 2005, the lottery commission is entitled to grant short term permits to individuals or corporate bodies for organising promotional lotteries.

An official source at the commission said: "Over the past few years, such permits were granted at various times to mobile operators, for running various promotions with the intention of allowing them to promote their brands, products and services.

"The permits were never intended for telecom operators to run lotteries or gambling operations.

"NLRC’s view is that such activities should be operated and managed by professional dedicated lottery companies supervised closely by it.

"Unfortunately the permits were misused and exploited for generating quick profit not linked to the promotion of mobile services, brands or products.

"Not only did they misuse their permit, they also failed to follow the basic conditions under, which the permits were granted, making many subscribers vow not to participate in future lottery promotions."

The source further said because the Federal Government believes that standard lotteries and promotions could be very positive and a force for immense good given the right governance supervision and direction that will protect the interests of players, stakeholders and the general public, the commission would affirm the commitment of the Federal Government by granting a few special licences to expert companies, that will run national promos across all mobile operator networks.

"Specifically, the NLRC will assure and monitor full compliance of the companies with the lottery act and telecommunications regulations," the source said.