NCC Partners Stakeholders to Boost Effective Telecoms Regulation, Industry Growth
By Josephine Isaac
In line with its tradition and commitment to engage with stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) hosted the second edition of the Nigerian Telecoms Leadership Summit, with a view to pursuing proactive regulatory interventions aimed at ensuring an enabling operating environment and boosting the investment climate in the Nigerian telecom industry.
The event, which took place recently at the Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos, hosted key industry stakeholders with the central objective to analyse the present state of the sector, process the issues, and chart new pathways to a more effective and sustainable regulatory regime for the stability and growth of the Nigerian telecom industry.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated that the theme of the Summit: “The Future of Telecom Regulation in Nigeria,” presented a unique opportunity for the Commission to interact with critical stakeholders.
The EVC said the Commission through such interaction, would be able to brainstorm and migrate to new frontiers of visionary regulations that will galvanise and foster desired growth in the Nigerian telecom industry.
Danbatta posited that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered political and socio-economic uncertainties globally and underscored the crucial role of digital connectivity in keeping societies functioning, as the online life became, essentially, a new way of life.
According to him, with the increased dependence on digital platforms, the theme of the event had become necessary in order to put in place a broader regulatory framework that will boost and protect the integrity of the industry in the emergent digital economy.
Danbatta reiterated that the NCC will continue to diligently pursue the implementation of policy frameworks such as Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025; and the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030 which are consistent with NCC’s regulatory interventions such as the Commission’s Strategic Management Plan (SMP), 2020-2024 and Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), 2021-2025, among others.
The EVC announced that all the policy and regulatory frameworks principally seek to provide a platform for Nigerian citizens to engage in innovative developments for the telecoms industry and improve the nation’s ability to compete in the ever-competitive global space.
Danbatta highlighted the transformation trending as a result of the expanding spectrum of the digital ecosystem, stressing that the industry is witnessing new business delivery and breakthroughs due to the expansion of boundaries of digital Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), especially fintech and e-commerce firms.
The EVC disclosed that those consequential ecosystems have contributed to the growth of the Nigerian digital economy riding on telecom infrastructure.
He noted that the digital services and contents provided by these SMEs will leverage broadband infrastructure and the upcoming deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) network being driven by the Commission to deliver more innovative and high-quality experiences to consumers.
“The Commission’s successful auction and licensing of the 3.5GHz spectrum licences in the last quarter of 2021 for the deployment of 5G technology is set to create many opportunities for the development of the industry and as a regulator, we are conversant with the fact that a dynamic regulatory environment is needed to sustain this industry growth.
“Therefore, it has become imperative for us, as critical stakeholders, to appraise the progress made so far as an industry and chart the course for the future of the telecoms industry in the country,” EVC said.
The NCC boss explained that one of the sectors that had been positively impacted by the digital transformation is the financial services sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC, Dr. Ademola Sogunle, speaking on the theme “The Future of Telecom Regulation in Nigeria: Challenges of Access to Funding”, stated that the telecommunications industry had become the sustaining stimulus of the post-pandemic era as consumers’ behaviours continue to shift towards digital trends.
The Director, Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis, NCC, Yetunde Akinloye, while reviewing the resolutions of the first edition of the Summit held in 2019, said the Commission had implemented the recommendations of that meeting among which were Executive Order on Duplicity of Taxes and Levies, and Harmonization of Right of Way (RoW) fees.
Akinloye stated that other recommendations implemented include, addressing of interconnect debt, review of the framework on interconnect clearing houses to ensure 10 percent of traffic is routed through clearing houses, incentive for small operators as well as monitoring compliance with Code of Corporate Governance.