Mandatory 40k monthly fee for mobile phones blacklisting service wrong
Posted by abcn on 2009-09-04 09:04:24 AM
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.
Comments
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chucks, 2009-09-04 02:19:54
It should be optional not compulsory
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