healthy competition among telecommunications operators. The Commission
said this was necessary to ensure the provision of qualitative and
efficient services throughout the country in line with global best
practices.
The Commission equally declared its commitment to regularly undertake
cost-based studies in order to ensure fair pricing of data and voice
services in a bid to protect Nigerians and consumers in the telecom
sector.
Josephine Amuwa, Director, Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis
(PCEA) Department, NCC gave the assurances in a remark made at a two-day
annual departmental retreat in Abuja.
According to Amuwa, “the Policy Competition and Economic Analysis (PCEA)
Department has been directly responsible for approving, regulating, and
monitoring of telecoms tariffs, assessing the level of competition in
the industry, monitoring behaviour, measuring the performance of the
industry as well as providing policy directions on topical issues
related to the ecosystem.”
Speaking further, Amuwa reiterated that the PCEA Department can be
relied upon for the provision of up-to-date statistical information on
voice and data subscriptions, teledensity, as well as level of broadband
penetration.
She explained that the determination of Mobile Termination Rate,
Determination of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) Pricing,
and Determination of Mobile Number Portability transaction fees in the
sector were among key issues that the PCEA department handled recently.
Amuwa, however, added that study was ongoing on retail broadband and
data services toward efficient regulation. “The Department is fortified
to provide Nigerians with economic indication on telecommunications
contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” she added.
Also speaking at the event, Sunday Atu, Head Competition and Tariff,
NCC, said evaluations were ongoing to ascertain areas to deepen
competition in the telecommunications market and to benchmarking these
practices against international best practices.
Chukwuyere Ebere, a telecommunications lawyer, who spoke as a guest
speaker at the retreat, charged the Commission to maintain the practice
of stakeholder consultation and benchmarking new regulatory policies
against International Telecommunication Standards.
Ebere’s counsel resonated with Amuwa who had earlier noted that the
Commission never rested on its oars despite the fact that its
achievements had placed it as a foremost national telecom regulatory
agency in Africa.