The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has listed some terms and conditions that shall be met before access providers and access seekers can share infrastructure in the Nigerian telecom industry.
According to the telecom regulator, an Access Provider shall provide capacity to other operators on a “first-come, first-served” basis and must be determined in accordance with the order in which the operator owning or having control over a facility, receives requests for infrastructure sharing.
“Every Access Provider shall reserve the right to refuse an application for infrastructure sharing on grounds of Insufficient capacity, Safety, reliability, incompatibility of facilities and general engineering considerations,” it said in a document posted on its official website.
The document titled ‘Guidelines on Co-Location and Infrastructure Sharing’, also noted that subsisting indebtedness of Access Seeker to Access Provider on similar infrastructure sharing arrangements provided this ground for refusal shall not apply to Co-location in respect of interconnection.
Other terms and conditions are:
- The decision to refuse an application for infrastructure sharing shall be communicated in writing to the Access Seeker specifying the reasons for such refusal.
- Every infrastructure sharing agreement, including any prior existing agreement, shall be in writing and shall specify the contractual terms and conditions agreed on by the parties. All such agreements shall be registered with the Commission.
- As a precondition for registration, every infrastructure sharing agreement shall be submitted to the Commission for review and approval.
- The Commission shall in reviewing infrastructure sharing agreements ensure that the terms on which infrastructure sharing is offered are in compliance with the principles of neutrality, transparency, non-discrimination and fair competition.
- Every Infrastructure sharing agreement that has been duly negotiated and executed by parties shall be submitted to the Commission within seven (7) working days for review and approval. The Commission shall, within twenty-one (21) working days, review and approve the agreement, provided that all information requested by the Commission are received.
- Prices for infrastructure sharing should be non-discriminatory, reasonable, and based on the actual costs incurred by the owner of the facility.
- Determination of the costs underlying prices should be transparent and neutral.