The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday engaged stakeholders in the telecom sector on what it described as the ‘Determination of Call Termination Rate for Special Numbering Service Providers in Nigeria.
The engagement, which was held at the telecom regulator head office in Abuja is geared towards taking a decisive regulatory move to ensure sustainability, profitability and fair competition in the Special Numbering Service (SNS) segment of the nation’s telecommunications sector.
According to NCC, the engagement was held following the extensive work of a committee set up by the Commission to look into the issues and complaints emanating from the SNS segment of the telecoms market.
“We are here to discuss issues pertaining to the special numbering services (SNS) segment of the Nigerian telecommunications market. A key concern is the perception of high cost of delivering services to end-users in the SNS segment,” said Yetunde Akinloye, Director, Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis at NCC while addressing the stakeholders.
She noted that statutorily, the NCC is the custodian and manager of the toll-free and non-toll-free numbers licenses, on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Owing to the scarce and finite nature of the numbers in the sector, the NCC, as the regulator, was under obligation to ensure the utilisation of the numbers by the licensees in a way that delivers value to the final consumers and ensures sustainability of the industry.
The SNS has been in existence for the past 15 years, with some licensees actively engaged in the segment. However, there are some observations and complaints from different quarters on the use of these numbers.