The Nigerian Communications Commission’s plan to allow MVNOs was announced two years ago
Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are about to launch in Nigeria afer the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) granted licences to 25 companies.
The licences were awarded about two years after the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) first said it would allow MVNOs to boost the take-up of mobile services in the country.
The licensed companies will provide the same services as network operators MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile by running their services over one of the operator’s infrastructure.
According to local media, the NCC has not released an official statement yet, but reportedly has created five different categories of licence under the MVNO framework, tier 1 to tier 5, with 5 as the most ambitious an no takers for tier 1.
Additional revenues
The telecoms regulator is understood to have generated at least N5.9 billion for the state in licensing fees. While all categories of licence last 10 years, the various tiers are priced differently.
The highest in the categories, the tier-five licence costs N500 million, while tier four goes for N200 million. Both the tier-three and tier-four licences cost N130 million and N60 million respectively, while the tier-one licence is to be issued at N35 million.
The Commission’s Executive Vice Chair and CEO, Prof Umar Danbatta, said that the MVNO licences should help fill several service gaps, including the mobile-to-fixed market, machine-to-machine communications, the business-to-business sectors and rural networks.
He also acknowledged the growing concern among operators of the cost of carrying over-the-top (OTT) players’ traffic and suggested there is an opportunity for MVNOs to partner Big Tech so they would contribute revenue to the network operators indirectly.