The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has engaged the services of Messrs. Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), one of the world’s reputable consulting firms, to conduct a study on the current level of competition in the colocation and infrastructure sharing (CIS) segment of the Nigerian telecommunications sector.
Seventy-eight licensees are currently operating in that market segment.
The study, which is expected to be concluded between April and July 2022, will enable the NCC to have insightful and evidenced-based facts to glean the dynamics at play and ensure the continuous growth of the CIS segment of the telecom market.
Speaking at the NCC’s stakeholders’ forum recently organised in Lagos on the commencement of the study, the director, policy, competition and economy analysis (PCEA) at NCC, Yetunde Akinloye, who represented the executive vice chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the forum was hosted to intimate operators in the CIS segment of the telecom market on the study and to secure their buy-in and cooperation with the consultants undertaking the study.
Akinloye reasoned that in line with its mandate of creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services, the NCC periodically conducts studies to assess the level of competition in the industry.
“Having successfully conducted competition assessment studies in 2005, 2010 and 2013, the Commission had issued determinations based on the findings of the studies while outcome of such studies has also enabled the Commission to come up with various regulatory interventions and initiatives to continuously provide a level-playing field for the interplay of market forces. These procedures are emplaced by the Commission to ensure fair, efficient and sustainable competition in the Nigerian telecom industry,” Akinloye said.
Director, technical standards and network integrity at NCC, Bako Wakil, also joined Akinloye in seeking the full cooperation of licensees in the CIS segment of the telecom market whenever they are approached by the consultants for relevant information either through the instrumentality of the RFI or through one-on-one sessions with consultants in the course of the implementation of the study.
According to Wakil, the study is in the interest of the CIS licensees, other players and the consumers. It will also provide the commission with useful and evidenced-based insights necessary to ensure healthy competition and a level-playing ground in the CIS segment and ensure sustainability in the growth of the telecommunication industry.
