NCC targets fair competition in regulatory reviews

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has stated that the adjustments to its two major regulatory instruments will strengthen a fair and competitive market space for telecommunications companies in Nigeria.

These instruments are the Annual Operating Levy Regulations (AOL) and the Frequency Spectrum (Fees and Pricing, etc.) Regulation. According to the press release signed by Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Ikechukwu Adinde, the AOL ensures that those licensed will be “properly and equitably” assessed for the annual levy as well as meeting both statutory and regulatory expectations. The AOL is currently being reviewed in line with the current realities of the communications sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the Frequency Spectrum fee and pricing “enable the Commission to meet its sole and exclusive mandate in Section 21 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 by assigning the scarce national resource in an equitable manner.”

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta, while speaking at the public inquiry organized by the Commission last Thursday said the public inquiry was a precursor to the Commission’s current drive to ensure efficiency in spectrum management and the unveiling of next generation services through varied enablers, adding that it was in this regard that the Commission issued a Spectrum Trading Guidelines (STG) in 2018, to ensure frequency Spectrum is readily available to licensees through an effective process. He said, “Furthermore, the Commission has commenced the process of deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology in Nigeria and is driving the provision of such ubiquitous services on making frequency Spectrum available to the licensees. The efficacy and reliability of the initiatives will be hinged on proper market valuation of the frequency spectrum and fair assessment of levies.”

Danbatta said there had also been an attendant secondary reliance on different approaches to drive the best out of different frequency spectrum with the explosion in technologies. According to him, this has led to the need for designation of several bands of frequency spectrum for communication services and a key illustration is the recent identification of some Spectrum frequencies for 5G deployment. The EVC said the Commission was conscious of the expectations and the need to ensure that all regulatory instruments are made ready to meet these challenges, adding that this has made the reviews which the Commission is conducting an important milestone as the public inquiry in pushing the country to the front queue of this global effort. He said, “Hence, we must be prepared on both ends of the industry to prepare the country for these remarkable changes; while the licensees continue to invest in deployment, the Commission will sustain its drive-by ensuring regulatory efficiency and excellence.”

Danbatta further acknowledged that the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025, the National Digital Economy Policy & Strategy (NDEPS), 2020-2030 are all tailored to ensure that the Commission deploys new initiatives, build regulatory efficiency and ensure market stability. He said the policy documents highlighted the central nature of the frequency spectrum in meeting most of their baseline objectives. “This has made the ongoing review not just necessary but inevitable to facilitate the attainments of these objectives,” he said.