The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commenced the process of conducting a study to assess the current level of competition in the colocation and infrastructure sharing (CIS) segment of the Nigerian telecommunications sector.
The telecoms regulator disclosed this in a statement issued today and seen by Nairametrics. According to the Commission, the study is to enable the regulator to have insightful and evidenced-based facts to glean the dynamics at play and ensure the continuous growth of that segment of the telecoms market.
To that end, the Commission has engaged the services of Messrs. Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), one of the world’s reputable consulting firms, to conduct the study on its behalf, in the exercise of NCC’s regulatory functions as provided in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003. The study is expected to be concluded between April and July 2022.
What the NCC is saying
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 said: “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 added.
What you should know
- The infrastructure sharing companies build and lease telecoms infrastructure such as base stations to network operators.
- Their operations allow the likes of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile to achieve rapid expansion of their networks across the country as they leverage the infrastructure built by other companies.
- 78 companies are currently operating in the infrastructure sharing segment of the Nigerian telecoms market.
