Unsolicited messages: NCC advises consumers to take advantage of 2442 short code

The Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC) has advised consumers to take advantage of the 2442 short code to choose the type of messages they want to receive.

The Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, gave the advice on Thursday at the 79th Telecom Consumers Parliament in Abuja.

According to him, the parliament, with the theme: “Implementation of the `Do not Disturb’ (DND): the Journey so Far”, was aimed at sensitising the public to the policy.

Danbatta said that the short code would go a long way to give consumers the right to choose the messages they wanted to receive, adding that following the barrage of complaints on the menace of unsolicited message, the commission swayed into action by mandating the activation of 2442 short code.

“The code will enable consumers to control the type of messages they receive.  I am glad that it has come into effect and I urge all consumers to take advantage of this new regime by sending “stop to 2442’’ to avoid unsolicited messages,’’ he said.

Danbatta said the commission was aware that for the initiative to succeed there was need for massive public enlightenment by both regulator and the operating companies. “It is on this regard that the theme of today’s parliament becomes relevant.

“The objective is to place the issue on the front burner of our discourse until unsolicited messages become a thing of the past,’’ he said.

Danbatta said the issue of consumer’s protection was very paramount to the commission, adding that consumers were kings in the market place. To uphold the principle, he said that the commission had put in place various programmes to inform, educate and protect the consumers of telecom service.

In his paper on the theme, Mr Ayoola Oke, a telecom consultant with NCC, called on operators to ensure full compliance with the 2442 short code.

Oke said that one major challenge of the policy was lack of awareness, hence the need for both the regulators and the telecom operators to be involved in massive publicity. He called for effective complaint management by the operators and network management to block spam and screen out malicious mails.

Answering questions on outright ban on unsolicited messages, Mrs Amina Shehu, Head of Legal, NCC, said complete ban was not possible because of e-commerce system.