Telecommunications industry in the country coming from the tortuous 2009 occasioned by global economic meltdown and Central Bank of Nigeria reform in the banking which have affected both operators and subscribers adversely resulting in reduction of Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) as well as expansion plans is looking forward to bounce back to growth path this 2010.
Operators and subscriber have entered 2010 with high hopes of a turn around experience in every sphere of telecommunications service delivery. These hopes are based on the facts that the economic meltdown which has started showing signs of recovery in America and Europe will reflect on Nigeria going by the fact that major telecom equipment vendors that supplies the country’s operators are based in America and Europe which will metamorphose into availability of credit facilities for operators to embark on network expansion projects among others.
More so, it is the expectation of both operators and subscribers that the ongoing reform in the banking sector will be concluded soon and banks positioned to start lending money to businesses that will increase liquidity in the sector and thereby increase ARPU.
SIM Card Registration
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded all the necessary modalities for the smooth commencement of SIM card registration from March this year.
The SIM card registration an idea of Association Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (Atcon) being implemented by NCC requires pre-pay SIM cards to have their ownership details registered with the network operators. The registration process which starts next March will last for six months. SIM cards that are not registered after then will be shut out of the mobile networks.
Lolia Emakpore, head of Consumers Affair at the Nigerian Communications Commission, said the SIM card registration is in line with complaints that the commission had gotten that mobile phones are used to aid crimes and that government instructed the commission to adopt a mode to help curb it.
She said that Nigeria does not have an effective database, which is why six months is enough to cover the six geo-political zones in the country and even get to the local government areas.
According to her, the process will require subscribers to produce their National Identity card. Biometrics will also be taken, to curb fraud, during the process of registration.
Broadband Penetration
The importance of broadband internet service to development of information and communications technology cannot be over emphasized. This has led to different initiatives by both private and government geared towards making broadband internet services affordable and available to Nigerians. Among such initiatives are the state accelerated broadband initiative (SABI) project embarked upon by NCC and the laying of undersea submarine cable, Glo 1 to Nigeria from Europe by Globacom.
This year, many Nigerians are going to witness the availability of broadband services in their homes and offices expected to spring up small businesses. This projections are based on the fact that, the partnership entered into between NCC and Information Communication Technology company, ipNX and other companies to drive the state accelerated broadband initiative (SABI) project which began last year in the ancient city of Kano state will be extended to more towns and cities this year.
The project initiated by the Nigerian communication commission (NCC) contains retail product like the iwireless broadband which is a reliable, high speed wireless broadband solution designed to offer residential and small business subscribers the ability to browse, talk and fax documents all at the same time.
The 9,800 km long Glo1 submarine cable that will carry internet traffic between Nigeria and the rest of the world landed in Lagos last year.
The cable which is of the 32 STM 64 type has virtual infinite capacity and therefore offers sufficient capacity for traffic for the Globacom’s mobile, fixed, and internet telecommunication services. This service complemented by the launch of Glo fixed line service as well as the national fibre optic project is expected to be available to Nigerians this 2010.
MainOne another undersea cable initiative pioneered by MainStreet Technologies is expected to berth in Lagos by December this year.
More so, the renew bid to license 2.3 Ghz spectrum band will be concluded this year and operators that will emerge winners are expected to roll out service on this spectrum which is also NCC’s effort to make broadband affordable and available to Nigerians no matter where they may live.
Mobile Number Portability
One major challenge in the country’s telecommunications space especially in the voice service has been poor quality of service. This issue has generated a lot argument among industry stakeholders, while operators are blaming absence of infrastructure such as power supply, subscribers and the regulatory authorities are accusing operators of congesting their networks.
In all of these NCC decided that it will implement Number Portability expected to address the problem of poor quality of service. However, this is expected to be implemented this year.
The Commission however said Number Portability is one of the important tools it has at its disposal to foster open competition, stimulate improvements in Quality of Service and expand coverage in the Nigerian Telecommunications Market.
For the NCC, number portability must be implemented by all operators in Nigeria including fixed exchange operators, VoIP, Next Generation Networks Operators and Mobile Operators. This is even as transit of Interconnection Operators will also implement the service as it relates to direct routing of calls to the proper serving or terminating network as calls traverse their network avoiding unnecessary routing of calls.
It is also expected that NCC would consider including the porting of Toll Free/Free phone as well as Premium Rate Numbers, as it seeks inputs from the industry stakeholders on its implementation and timing.
Mobile Number Portability when implemented, allows mobile customers to port their telephone numbers between mobile operators, first while Fixed and Interconnect Operators will implement within their networks the ability to perform direct routing of calls originating in or transiting through their networks to the proper terminating mobile network.

Mobile number portability (MNP) enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.
MNP is implemented in different ways across the globe. The international and European standard is for a customer wishing to port his/her number to contact the new provider (Recipient) who will then arrange necessary process with the old provider (Donor). This is also known as ‘Recipient-Led’ porting. The UK is the only country to not implement a Recipient-Led system, where a customer wishing to port his/her number is required to contact the donor to obtain a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) which he/she then has to give to the Recipient. Once having received the PAC the Recipient continues the port process by contacting the Donor. This form of porting is also known as ‘Donor-Led’ and has been criticised by some industry analysts as being inefficient. It has also been observed that it may act as a customer deterrent as well as allowing the Donor an opportunity of ‘winning-back’ the customer. This might lead to distortion of competition, especially in the markets with new entrants that are yet to achieve scalability of operation.
Reduction in Tariff
Nigerian Communications Commission in an apparent move to reduce call tariff paid by telecommunications subscribers in the country, on December 21, 2009 released a new interconnect rate.
Interconnect rate is the rate at which operators terminate calls to one another’s network.
Interconnection is critical to the proper functioning of a competitive communications market. This is recognized in the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, which requires network facilities providers and network service providers to provide other licensees with interconnection on request at any technically feasible location.
The last regime of interconnection rate regulation was implemented through the
Commission’s Interconnection Rate Determination issued on 21 June 2006. Since then, the Nigerian communications market has seen further market entry by new operators, the introduction of a Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) regime, and tremendous growth in both subscriber numbers as well as call and data volumes.
In the current determination the interconnection rate for mobile (voice) termination provided by new entrants in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network is now N10.12 which took effect from December 31, 2009; N9.48 from 31.12.2010; N8.84 from 31.12.2011; and N8.20 from the 31.12.2012. The interconnection rate for mobile (voice) termination provided by other operators in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network is now N8.20 from December 31, 2009.
The interconnection rate for fixed (voice) termination in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network shall be: N10.12 from December 31, 2009; N9.48 from December 31, 2010; N8.84 from 31.12.2011; and N8.20 from the 31.12.2012.
NCC also put the interconnection rate for SMS termination provided by new entrants in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network as follows: N1.94 from December 31, 2009; N1.63 from December 31, 2010; N1.32 from December 31, 2011 and N.1.02 from the 31.12.2012.
The interconnection rate for SMS termination provided by other operators in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network which took effect from the 31st of December 2009 is now N1.02.
The implications of the reduction in the interconnect rate means that both voice calls and short message service have been reduced and will continue to drive down each year according to the determined rate as published by the commission.