Why NCC Grants National Roaming Service To MTN, 9mobile
PELUMI OLALEYE
The three- month trial on national roaming service approved by the Nigeria Communications Commission,NCC for MTN and Emerging Markets Telecommunication Service Limited (EMTS) otherwise known as 9mobile would come to an end by October 31.
The reason for the approval initially was for subscribers to experience better geographical connection.
In a statement by NCC, roaming service aids the mobile subscriber to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services when travelling outside a particular network geographical area by utilising the network coverage of other networks with roaming arrangements to access service.
The trial commenced on August 1, 2020 expected to end by October 31, 2020.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the primary objective of the national roaming service trial is to encourage network resource sharing among operators.
“The successful implementation of the trial will enable EMTS subscribers to access MTN network service within the national roaming trial geographical area without the need for an MTN Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card”.
The EVC stated further that it would lead to operational expenditure (OPEX) optimisation and capital expenditure (CAPEX) efficiencies leading to freeing up of resources to expand mobile network coverage to unserved and underserved communities across the country, which will lead to improved Quality of Service (QoS) delivery to subscribers.
He added that the approval of EMTS and MTN are expected to configure their networks to test and simulate the customer experience. The trial approval covers a few local governments, designated as the National Roaming geographic area, in Ondo State.