The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued regulatory guidelines on national roaming services
According to NCC, only certified roaming providers would have their request attended to under the National Roaming Agreement (NRA), for a duration of 3 years.
NCC insists that the duration of any national roaming agreement must not exceed three years from the date of execution.
Explaining further, NCC said: “The Commission reserves the right to permit parties to renew the National Roaming Agreement for another 3 years. Any further extension must be subjected to the approval of the Commission.”
“These guidelines are designed and developed to encourage National Roaming between Roaming Providers and Roaming Seekers within a predetermined framework to remove uncertainty and ensure seamless communication across all networks in Nigeria.”
NCC explained that the guidelines shall apply to only the holders of licenses validly issued by the Commission which contain a condition that makes the holder eligible to enter into a national roaming service agreement.
In addition, NCC advised potential providers to fully read the guideline in conjunction with the Act, “the Collocation Guidelines, Interconnection Regulations, Quality of Service Regulations, Competition Practices Regulations, other subsidiary legislations that may be issued by the Commission from time to time, and relevant Licence Conditions.“
On the legal provisions, NCC insisted that the procedure for national roaming entails that dully authorized service providers shall request and negotiate NRA with each other on bilateral and non-discriminatory terms.
“(3) A Roaming Provider shall notify the Roaming Seeker of its approval or rejection of the Roaming Request in line with the procedure stated under Sub-paragraph (5) and (6) below.” While subsection (4) required that where the “Roaming Seeker receives no response from the Roaming Provider within 15 days of its request, the Roaming Seeker shall immediately notify the Commission in writing, and the Commission shall take necessary steps to ensure the Roaming
