Almost 700 Telecom Masts Marked for Demolition by NCC

• Almost 700 Telecom Masts Marked for Demolition by NCC

A total of 693 abandoned telecom masts have been identified and marked for demolition across the country by the Nigerian Communication Council (NCC).

In a notice signed by the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Dr Henry Nkemadu, owners of the masts have 90 days to either get them in good useable form or dismantle them.

He also indicated that over 400 of these masts were not connected to any network provider and hence could not be identified. He further warned that failure to heed to the notice within the stipulated time frame would lead to the fining of the owners and subsequent dismantling.

He said, “Where there is a failure to comply with this directive, the commission shall exercise its regulatory mandate by taking necessary steps to decommission/dismantle the abandoned masts/towers”.

“Affected licensees will also be required to reimburse the commission for expenses in this regard, in addition to the payment of a fine as provided in Chapter 5 (4)(d) of the Guidelines.”

“Failure to maintain these structures over a long period of time has resulted in their technical failure and constant vandalization with negative consequences on public health and safety,” he said.

The director added, “In certain locations, it was observed that criminals took advantage of these abandoned structures to host illegal broadcast equipment for relaying subversive messages against the state.”

It was noticed, however, that over 200 of the abandoned masts were linked to Rainbownet, Reltel/zoom and Starcomms, three internet services providers which were either taken over or shut down due to debts or competition and have since become extinct.