1. History of G.S.M In Nigeria
2004
In 1985, the government embarked on a journey to deregulate the whole economy, including the telecommunications
sector. As part of the program, the independent national regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),
was formed in The NCC is the body that supervises the activities of operators and other stakeholders in the
Nigerian telecommunications industry. Following the establishment of the NCC, a law, Decree 75, was enacted to allow
private companies to participate in the telecom sector as well as help develop and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
NCC objectives and regulations
The commission’s responsibility is to promote competition among service providers in the industry as well as ensure the provision of adequate telecommunications services throughout the country . The vision of the NCC is to act as an information rich environment ,whose industry regulation activities can be comparable globally to other world class regulatory organizations .
Its mission is to support a market driven telecommunications industry and promote universal access.
Upon the establishment of the NCC, its objectives were determined as follows:
• To promote the implementation of the national communications or telecommunications policy, this may be modified and
amended from time to time.
• To establish a regulatory framework for the Nigerian communications industry and create an effective, impartial and
independent regulatory authority.
• To promote the provision of modern, universal, efficient, reliable, affordable and easily accessible communications services and widest coverage throughout Nigeria.
• To encourage local and foreign investments in the Nigerian communications industry and the introduction of innovative
services and practices in the industry in accordance with international best practices and trends.
• To ensure fair competition in all sectors of the Nigerian communications industry and also encourage participation of
Nigerians in the ownership, control and management of communications companies and organizations.
• To encourage the development of a communications manufacturing and supply sector within the Nigerian economy and also encourage effective research and development efforts by all communications industry practitioners.
• To protect the rights and interest of service providers and consumers within Nigeria.
• To ensure that the needs of the disabled and elderly persons are taken into consideration in the provision of communications .
• To ensure an efficient management, including planning, coordination, allocation, assignment, registration, monitoring and
use electronic addresses, and also promote and safeguard national interests, safety and security in the use of the said scarce national resources .
Current regulations implemented by the NCC include:
• Type approval regulations
• Numbering regulations
• Telecommunications networks interconnection regulations
• Competition practices regulations
• Quality of services regulations
• Universal access and universal service regulations
• Consumer protection regulations
• Deployment of Wi‐Fi
• Frequency spectrum (fees and pricing)
• Nigerian communications (enforcement process)
Key activities of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
The NCC began licensing network operators in However, due to political setbacks caused by the acting military
government at the time, the market’s potential was not exploited and it continued to suffer from underinvestment.
During the same year, Nitel was brought under the supervision of the NCC .
A new telecom policy was introduced in 2000 that commenced full liberalization of the industry. In February 2001, the
NCC awarded digital mobile licenses in the GSM900 and GSM1800 bands for an initial period of 15 years to four
companies: MTN, Communications Investment Limited (CIL), Econet Wireless (formerly V‐Mobile, Celtel and now Zain)
and Mobile Telecommunications Limited (Mtel Ltd). Following CIL’s inability to pay the full sum of $285m, it had its
licensed revoked.
MTN and Zain launched service in May and August 2001, respectively, and have since deployed their networks across
Nigeria’s 36 states. In September 2002, Glo Mobile also received a digital mobile GSM license to provide service in all parts
of the country. National carrier licenses were issued to Glo Mobile and Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel) in September
and November of 2002, respectively. In the same year, both companies were also issued international gateway
licenses for 20 years, until 2022, along with Prest Cable & Satellite TV Systems.
MTS First Wireless acquired a national long‐distance operator license in 2002, followed by six other companies in the
2004‐2006 period. In September 2008, Gateway Telecom Integrated Services became the latest company to acquire a
license in this category. All licenses are for a 20‐year period.
In October 2003, a new Nigerian Communications Commission Act was passed, replacing the Nigerian
Communications Commission Act of The new act gives the regulator more independence and power to regulate the industry.
In February 2006, the NCC introduced unified access service licenses with a single concession covering the provision of
fixed, mobile and any other telecommunications services for a period of 10 years. It was granted to 13 companies in total,
including two major GSM operators, MTN and Zain. The earliest operative date for the licenses was July 2006.
This unified license replaced all existing licenses, including the 15‐year digital mobile licenses granted to GSM operators in
February Other recipients were CDMA operators (formerly known as private telecom operators, or PTOs) such as
Starcomms, Multi‐Links and Intercellular. The licenses cost $2.11m each and cover a period of 10 years. The introduction
of unified access service licenses was a major change in the market, since it officially ended the exclusivity period of the
GSM operators in the provision of mobile telecommunications services. In July 2007, Visafone was granted a similar
license and went on to join the country’s top‐tier CDMA operators. CDMA operators can now extend their reach beyond
their former geographical limits and compete in both fixed and mobile markets. As a result, CDMA operators are
dominating the fixed market and have extended their services into mobile markets, competing freely and aggressively
with established GSM‐based operators.
In January 2007, the Mubadala Development Company, a business development and investment company based in Abu
Dhabi, was issued a license for the provision of mobile, fixed and broadband services. Etisalat joined Mubadala during the
same year as its operational partner in Nigeria, and the duo launched mobile GSM service in October 2008.
In March 2007, the NCC awarded four UMTS licenses in the 2GHz band. Only four operators bid for these licenses,
including three mobile operators — MTN Nigeria, Glo Mobile, Zain (Celtel Nigeria) — and one long‐distance fixed
operator, Alheri Engineering (a subsidiary of the Dangote Group). All four bidding companies received a 10MHz block each
at a cost of $150m for each concession. To date, all licensed operators except Alheri Engineering have launched 3G
services in Nigeria.
In 2009, the NCC also announced plans to register all GSM‐enabled SIM cards: starting in the first quarter of 2010, all
unregistered SIM cards will be disconnected. The NCC has also established a committee to implement mobile number
portability (MNP) for mobile networks in Nigeria, but no official date or specific plans have been communicated so far.
More recently, after receiving 41 applications for WiMAX spectrum in the 2.3GHz band, the NCC awarded licenses on a
“use it or lose it” basis to Multi‐Links, Mobitel Nigeria and Spectranet at a cost of N1.368bn (US$9.4m) for each 20MHz
slot. However, the licensing was canceled in order to accommodate new parameters for the evaluation process, and new
licensing round is expected to take place shortly.
GSM operators MTN and Zain have also applied to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for m‐banking licenses, with the aim
being to expand into mobile banking services. Both operators believe that the service will add value to their
subscribers and plan to target both the banked and unbanked populations.