President Julius Maada Bio has commended the National Commission for Telecommunications (NATCOM) Director General, Daniel Kaitibie and his management team for what the President described as NATCOM’s excellent performance at improving its regulatory capacity.
President Bio was giving a clean bill of health to the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) during his speech at the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday 18th May 2021.
The NATCOM DG, Daniel Kaitibie has demonstrated since his appointment that he is qualified and capable of controlling the country’s international gateway as well as ensuring that all mobile phone operators in the country perform according to the country’s laid down rules and regulations as far as telecommunications is concerned.
President Julius Maada Bio said: “ “The National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) has improved the regulatory space for telecommunications by passing into law five regulations governing licensing, spectrum, quality of service, type approval, and subscriber identification and registration”.
He added: “Mobile Voice coverage has increased from 79% in 2018 to about 85% in 2020. Internet penetration has improved from 12% in 2018 to 25% in 2020. There is an upward surge in the use of social media. More media houses, more newspapers, more radio stations, and more television stations are operating freely now than at any time in this nation’s history. More places can now boast of community radio stations“.
The leadership of NATCOM thanked the President for his gracious and esteemed recognition, in addition to his Government’s support to the Telecommunications Regulator.
DG Kaitibie in his address said: “We also extend profound thanks to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Finance, Parliament and all of its strategic partners including Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Providers, Owners of Radio Stations and Civil Society Organizations in the telecommunications sector.
“NATCOM also wishes to re-assure the nation, Parliament and Mobile Network Operators that the pursuit of continuous progress will remain the anchor of telecommunications regulations in Sierra Leone.
“We duly recognize that the progress achieved over the past three years was with the collaborative support of all partners, led by the Minister of Information and Communications, Hon Mohamed Rahman Swaray and his team, as well as others in the telecommunications sector,” DG Kaitibie noted.
He maintained that NATCOM is assuring the government and the general public about its permanent commitment to collaborating with its strategic partners for the perpetual pursuit of progress in the telecommunications sector in Sierra Leone.
