ALTON Pledges Cooperation As NCC Seeks Stronger Critical Infrastructure Protection

The chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Chief Idris Olorunnimbe, has urged telecom operators to support the federal government’s education reform drive, protect critical infrastructure and deepen collaboration with the regulator to sustain sector stability.

Olorunnimbe made the call while receiving the leadership of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), led by its chairman,  Gbenga Adebayo, at the NCC Lagos office.

He described the telecommunications industry as indispensable to Nigeria’s economy, stressing that Nigeria’s digital transformation would be impossible without your investment, your perseverance, and your willingness to operate in conditions that would make even advanced markets run in crisis.

The NCC board chairman, who commended operators for stabilising the sector despite macroeconomic headwinds, made three key requests.

He appealed to ALTON members to support the government’s push to improve education and digital skills nationwide. “I would like to request that you consider how to further improve the quality of our education. Increase our literacy level. Increase our urban quality. Do not look at this as revenue loss, look at it as profit and benefit, he stressed.

He noted that short-term, skill-based programmes under the federal government’s talent export initiative could transform lives within months, as the industry backing would accelerate impact.

“This request is not for me personally. It is for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he emphasised.

He sought stronger collaboration on the protection and operationalisation of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), warning that telecom services are too vital to be disrupted.

He said. “We are critical to commerce. We are critical to social and entertainment. We are critical to health. We are critical to life. He emphasised that the Commission would widen communication channels with operators to address emerging risks.

The NCC Board chair speaking on fibre vandalism said the Commission would engage sub-national governments and relevant agencies to ensure that contractors who damage telecom infrastructure bear the consequences. “He who cuts it loses it. If the contractor knows that when they destroy national infrastructure they will fix it at their cost, they will stop,” he added.

Olorumnimbe further called for a structured audit of industry interventions in schools, hospitals and other public institutions to avoid duplication and ensure sustainability.

He proposed a three- to five-year intervention roadmap stating “Once we know what has been done, it will be easy to know what is yet to be done, what is outdated and what needs renewal, he said,

Earlier, ALTON chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, congratulated Olorunnimbe on his appointment, describing it as coming at a defining moment for our sector, a time of recovery, recalibration, and renewed investor confidence.

Adebayo credited the Commission’s leadership for resolving legacy challenges, including the nearly N300 billion USSD debt crisis.

“Through structured engagement, Dr. Maida and his team resolved this issue. Today, there is no outstanding USSD debt. What was once a looming crisis has been converted into a sustainable framework,” he said.

He also said the cost-reflective tariff adjustment approved last year saved the industry from total collapse. He noted that investment had slowed and networks were strained before the intervention.

According to him, operators were nearing service rationing due to rising energy costs, forex scarcity and static pricing.

ALTON chairman said stability had improved, foreign obligations were being met and investor confidence was returning. He further appealed for regulatory independence, stressing that it must not only exist in law, and called for continued engagement with governors on right-of-way charges and multiple taxation.

The NCC Board chairman reaffirms the operators of fairness and equity while asserting that the NCC would continue to support the industry while safeguarding consumer interests.

“Regulator, licensee, those relationships exist. But the most important thing is that we are partners in progress,”he said