By Foday Moriba Conteh
On the 26th March 2021 the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) convened a Consumer Parliament, an event which brought together stakeholders in the Telecommunications Industry, Civil Society Organizations, the Media, Consumers and among others to deliberate on the theme, “Digital Penetration for Consumer Satisfaction in Telecommunications.” The programme was held at the Great Hall, Njala University, Bo Campus.
One of Sierra Leone’s leading telecommunications operators, Orange Sierra Leone, revealed that the company ,over the last 4 years, has played an integral role in the digital transformation of the country with an investment in excess of 1.4 trillion Leones .
That disclosure was made during a statement made by the General Secretary of the company, Haffie Haffner ,on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer.
Haffie Haffner congratulated NATCOM for the successful planning and execution of the Consumer Parliament saying it is long overdue.
“We welcome the process as same resonates with one of our most important values which is to listen & respond,” she stated.
She noted that they went with clean hands to all their esteemed customers for their assessment and evaluation of their service delivery to them, adding that they remain humble to acknowledge all their accolades as well as their criticisms in good faith and to respond to their needs for better customer experience.
Haffie Haffner revealed that Orange has been in Sierra Leone for almost 5 years as a reliable, capable and willing investor with a strong ambition to increase mobile penetration and the democratization of internet in the country and that this is because, Sierra Leone has one of the lowest mobile penetration (64%), internet penetration (18%) and smartphone penetration (30%) compared to other countries in the sub-region.
She pointed out that they strongly believe that digital inclusion is a major accelerator for inclusive growth, economic and societal development, as well as a success factor in achieving Sustainable Development Goals and that this is why digitalization has been a core pillar in Orange’s strategy and they have over the last 4 years played an integral role in the digital transformation of Sierra Leone with an Investment in excess of 1.4 trillion Leones, and they have been at the forefront of connecting the 7million plus people in Sierra Leone with 3G and 4G network services.
The General Secretary noted that at present Orange can boast of over 440 sites in the country and that 100% of their sites are at least 3G compatible meaning that they can access internet from every Orange site around the country furthering that they therefore have the widest network covering 74% of the population, meaning 4 out of every 5 Sierra Leonean is an Orange customer with access to voice and data services.
As a company, she said, they believe that if they are to increase access to data and usage, then the following must be considered:
On Infrastructure they recommended that mobile networks should continue the conversion of 2G Technology to 3G & 4G to further increase the coverage especially in rural communities and that the Government must ensure that there regulations to support the strategy in order to improve connectivity.
On Affordability it was recommended that there must be a Zoodlab to reduce cost for capacity and grant more access to fiber, and that Government should review the policy of taxes (Customs & GST) on devices.
Participants also recommended investments with development partners like the EU, the World Bank, IMF etc., in donating smartphones to rural communities and empowering women to be digitally inclusive.
“We remain committed to increased digital penetration in Sierra Leone and we will not relent until we attain an enviable data penetration rate like other countries in the sub region. We once again wish to acknowledge all our valued partners and stakeholders for your support.” Haffie Haffner concluded.
Giving an overview of event, the Chairman of NATCOM, Joe Blell underlined the significance of the Consumer Parliament stating how it guarantees the satisfaction of consumers in telecommunications industry and that consumers’ satisfaction and quality services will be the focus of the Consumer Parliament.
He disclosed that the Consumer Parliament is a platform that brings regulators, policymakers, service providers and consumers face to face for frank exchanges on critical issues in the sector furthering that being the regulator for consumer protection and consumer education, quality of service, cyber-crime and cyber security, consumer complaints redress challenges, etc are some of the issues they must focus on which will enhance the development of the sector.
The Director General of NATCOM, Daniel Kaitibi, extended appreciation to all for making the event as success, adding that the Consumer Parliament will address some of the challenges faced within the telecommunications industry.
He maintained that during the deliberations consumers will have the opportunity to outline their challenges to the mobile operators assuring that those issues will be addressed.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, applauded NATCOM for convening the Consumer Parliament, adding that such an engagement is very key because it gives the consumers the opportunity to outline their concerns to the service providers which will then give these service providers the chance to address those concerns going forward in order to enhance consumer satisfaction
He said NATCOM has enacted a regulation that has to do with Sim registration but unfortunately, many people still carry Sim Cards across the country that are not registered. In that regard, he instructed all mobile operators to consider registering all Sim Cards within the next 90 days.
The Minister also maintained that because the world is moving to a digital stage there is the need for a Cybercrime bill adding that when President Julius Maada Bio took over as President in 2018 the country had like 6% of its population on social media platforms but that in recent times this number has changed to around 9% and most that fall within that bracket are inherently youthful and so we must expect an exponential growth of digital participation in coming days and weeks, and so they have to prepare for the citizenry.
He assured that the Bill has safeguards to ensure the respect for the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights and that the Cybercrime Bill 2021 has enormous respect for fundamental human rights and the rule of law.
