The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta has affirmed that the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) Short Codes are issued only to those licensed to provide the Value Added Services.
Danbatta stated this today through Bako Wakil, NCC Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity (TSNI) who spoke in his stead while receiving a delegation from Radio Television Prestigious Awards (RTPWN) that paid a courtesy visit to NCC.
The RTPWN, an organization that offers awards to radio and television broadcasters across Africa visited the Commission to request for short codes. But the Director of TSNI declared that the organisation is not in the category of those eligible to apply for the Code.
Wakil explained to the visitors that if the RTPWN is really in need of short code, it must obtain a VAS licence from the Commission before applying for short code. He also informed the leadership of RTPWN that short codes can be processed within a week, although a VAS license may take a bit longer because of the processes involved. He therefore advised that if RTPWN requires the short code immediately, it may wish to approach any VAS licensee for negotiation in order to use the licensee's short code.
In his response, Dr. Samuel Wilcox, Managing Director of RTPWN commended the NCC’s leadership and informed the Commission that his organisation is about to organize radio and television Awards to merited broadcasters to be decided through public polls in Nigeria using quick codes to get network subscribers opinions. He also said RTPWN had earlier organised similar awards in Ghana, Kenya and some other countries and considered it important to organise a more befitting event in Nigeria, its home base in order to honour deserving Nigerian broadcasters in the news and entertainment industry.