NCC To Strengthen Colocation, Infrastructure Sharing Market Segment

Telecoms umpire, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said it has begun conducting a study to assess the 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 is to enable NCC to have insightful and evidence-based facts to glean the dynamics at play and ensure the continuous growth of the CIS segment of the telecom market. The NCC takes this issue as a priority, given the critical role of the colocation and infrastructure sharing segment of the telecom ecosystem in ensuring vital services.

Already, the Commission has engaged the services of Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), a consulting firm, to conduct the study on its behalf in exercising 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.

Speaking at the NCC’s stakeholders’ forum recently organized 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 and ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services, the NCC periodically conducts studies to assess the level of competition 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 the 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.

Despite the measurable progress made by the Commission, Akinloye stated that, since the successful completion of the 2013 study, there had been significant development and activities in some market segments of the industry that had necessitated the conduct of another competition study.

For instance, when the 2013 study was conducted, the CIS market segment was still at the embryonic stage, and as such, much emphasis was not placed on it. However, “The CIS segment has recorded significant growth and transformation over the years, having about 80 licensees operating in the segment while its performance and activities continue to impact other segments of the Nigerian industry significantly. The Director PCEA also informed that activities in the CIS market have also attained the targets set out in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025)”.

Akinloye further declared that the overarching objective of the study is to provide current insights into the level of competition in the CIS market segment and articulate strategies to enhance opportunities in the market, as well as ensure the deepening of competition, which will ultimately support the provision of innovative services for the benefits of both market players and the consumers at large.

“Therefore, in line with NCC’s participatory approach to regulation, this initial stakeholders forum has been convened to introduce the project formally

and the appointed consultants to the industry,” Akinloye informed participants and asserted that the forum provides opportunities for stakeholders to gain an understanding of the objective, scope and methodology of the study, as well as to ensure that questionnaire or Request for Information (RFI) developed by the consultants to access the level of competition in the market are well understood.

Thus, Akinloye rallied the stakeholders to see the forum as an opportunity “to seek and receive clarification based on a presentation delivered by the consultant and to make comments on issues relating to the study. She urged all participants to “commit to the objectives of the study, by providing complete, timely feedback to questionnaires.”

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 the consultants approach them 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 valuable 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.

“Also, rest assured of the confidentiality of any information provided to the Commission in this study, no matter how sensitive,” Bako said to the enthusiastic audience.