Having been involved in the birthing and midwifing of the West African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will continue to lend a helping hand to the activities of the ECOWAS body; according to the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC/CEO) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.

The EVC spoke when he received the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Alhaji Maman Laminou in his office in Abuja recently. Danbatta assured the visitors that they are welcome to the Commission any day. “Take this place as your home”, Danbatta assured.

He told the visitors that the NCC broadband plan will cater for everybody including those in the rural communities, adding that the NCC hopes to leverage on WATRA’s expertise to actualise the recently unveiled eight-point agenda whose focus is on the turnaround of the telecommunications sector.

The EVC assured the visitors that the National Broadband Plan (NBP) will be pursued vigorously and that attaining the 30% minimum coverage by 2018 is possible.

In his remarks, Mr Laminou congratulated Danbatta for his appointment as EVC of the NCC and pledged the support of WATRA to NCC at all times.

Laminou said that WATRA was in the process of harmonising the roaming activities of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He said guidelines are being developed for a seamless interconnection and roaming of telephone users in West Africa. He said this and many others will form discussions at the yearly general meeting in April, 2016.

Laminou said that WATRA has been taking its activities to several member countries in the last year or so. Some of these activities include Technology Conversion (in Senegal) and has been involved in the campaign for infrastructure sharing among operators. WATRA has also been involved in capacity building for members on Quality of Service (QoS).

The WATRA team was received by the EVC in company of the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo, Director, Human Capital and Infrastructure Group, Hajia Maryam Bayi and Chief of Staff to the EVC, Mr Usman Malah among others.