The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Professor Umar Danbatta has called for sustainability and improved telecommunications services for the elderly and People Living With Disabilities (PLWD).
He made the appeal at the 92nd edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) held in Lagos with the theme, ‘Consumer Protection for People Living with Disabilities and the Elderly.’
Professor Danbatta said the PLWD and the elderly, whom he referred to as senior citizens, were an important segment of the population that needed to be provided for and should be provided with telecommunications services and sustainability irrespective of the locations of such persons.
According to him, telecommunications services must be inclusive and should leverage technology to speed up the process, and integrating such persons should be priority adding that no one in the society should be disenfranchised when it comes to access to affordable telecommunications services and sustainability of those services.
Professor Danbatta said NCC have put in place measures to ensure that those services are available everywhere and for all persons irrespective of their locations and also working towards ensuring affordable cost of services because the society is so dynamic and services must care for the growing population, especially the PLWD and the elderly who have given a major part of their lives in serving the country.
In a remark the director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, Mr Alkasim Umar, said that the gathering was to discuss issues that affected Nigerian consumers.
Mr Umar, who was represented by the Head Consumer policy development and monitoring Mr Banji Ojo, said the programme also aimed at charting a way forward to direct the affairs of consumers, especially physically challenged Nigerians , create awareness and ensure no one was left behind.
In his keynote address, the director, Spectrum and Industry Service, Mr Kamal Tamawa, highlighted barriers to be addressed to achieve inclusiveness of the PLWD and the elderly.
Some of them, he said, were awareness and availability of products and services, affordability of products and services for persons with disabilities and affordable devices designed by technology companies.
He also said literacy and skills were needed to maximise the potential of mobile devices as an assistive technology.
Meanwhile, the panelists concluded that collaboration among telcos would help achieve inclusiveness, and provide affordable bundle for specific group of people, among other things, to achieve the desired result.
Cov/ Chioma