The declaration was the first in a series of public consultations on the unified license option. The result of the consultation was published on the Commission’s website.

The second phase of the consultation involved the appointment of a consultant to conduct a market analysis of the impact of the new license on the market in general and produce a framework for the license. The License framework and the proposed license documents were published for stakeholders in the industry and the public.

The Final consultation process on this Licensing framework expired on the 10th of January, 2006. We received comments from some stakeholders and operators and all comments were taken into consideration in finalising the framework and the Unified Access Service License.

LICENSE FRAMEWORK

The current trend of increasing convergence of telecommunication services and recent regulatory developments point to a progression toward greater use of general authorizations and class licensing in regulating market entry in the industry. As regulatory frameworks become more established and telecommunication markets become more mature, licensing authorities have become more willing to reduce regulatory intervention at the point of market entry. Instead, greater reliance is placed on general conditions, ex post regulatory remedies and industry self-regulation in the areas previously
covered by individual licence conditions.

Unified or Converged licensing objectives can be summarized as follows:

To ensure that the transition to a converged licensing regime fosters a level playing field among all competitors,countries have introduced new licensing approaches and opted for different models. These include:
 

	Distinguishing between facilities-based and service-based licences;
	Distinguishing between network facilities providers, network service providers, application service providers and content application service providers;
	Unifying licenses to encompass all ICT services or defined license clusters under a single licensing classification;
	Establishing a general authorization process, eliminating licences except for scare resources such as spectrum and numbers.

In Nigeria, the Law provides for the categorisation of licenses as individual or class licenses. In the current setup, licensing covers a broad variety of network operations and service provisions.  

MARKET DEVELOPMENTS IN NIGERIA

Key outcomes of the market reforms embarked upon in the telecommunications sector include the following:

OPTIONS FOR UNIFIED LICENSING

In deciding the framework for Unified Licensing, the following aspects were considered:

  The mapping of existing service specific licenses into Unified Licensing model

  The scope of Unified License

  The limits of Unified licensing

  The desired level of regulation

  License fees     

  Implementation strategy for Unified Licensing Regime: Phased or one-step implementation.

Keeping the above in mind, several options on how to shape the new licensing regime were considered and diagnosed taking into consideration the Nigerian environment. These options were varied in terms of services to be covered by license, types of licenses and time-schedule for implementation.  At the conclusion of this exercise the following option emerged as the best for unified license at this time.  
 

THE LICENSE

The Commission is introducing a Unified Access Service License as an individual License under the powers granted to it by section 32 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003. 
 

TENURE

The License will be valid for a period of ten (10) years from the date it is issued with an option for renewal for the same term. 
 

SCOPE OF THE LICENSE

The Unified Service License will cover the following services;

  Fixed Telephony whether wired or wireless,      

  Digital Mobile Services  

  International Gateway Services

  National Long Distance Services     

   Regional Long Distance Services
 

In the Unified Access Service License, the following services will be allowed;

Please note that National Carrier Licenses and all other existing licenses will remain unchanged.  

            
QUALIFICATION CRITERIA

             To be eligible for unified license existing licensees must meet the following criteria;

SERVICE AREA

The service area will be as in the original licenses issued by the Commission to the applicant. A nationwide mobile or FWA license will be converted in a nationwide Unified License and a regional FWA or PNL license will be converted into a Unified License that covers the same region. 

ROLLOUT OBLIGATIONS

In line with technological advancements, many regulators are reviewing their universal access policies for the new converged environment. It is no longer fashionable to give rollout obligations to licensees. To spur the growth of rural service provision, regulators are rethinking their strategies and it has been found that reduced entry barries, lower entry fees, infrastructure sharing and unhindered use of new wireless broadband technologies are more effective measures to promote cost-effective and rapid deployment of last-mile network technologies in rural and unserved areas.

However, a purely market based approach to universal service has its limits. If stretched, especially remote and rural areas face the risk of remaining significantly underserved. Therefore, it is important to define national universal access targets and to develop mechanisms, such as establishing a universal access fund, designation of universal access operators or service areas subject to special treatment under a universal service approach.  The Commission is developing universal access regulations in order to achieve service penetration that also includes marginalised groups and disadvantaged regions.

The Commission will not impose seperate rollout obligations on unified licensees, but rather deal with universal access issues in a separate universal access regulation, in which universal access targets and respective designation mechanisms are defined.

NUMBERING

As a guiding principle Numbering blocs assigned to the operators shall take into consideration the different needs of operators and provide distinctive numbering assignments for nation-wide and local service providers. Otherwise Interconnection problems will emerge as fixed services may not be distinguishable from mobile services.

One important question in implementing the unified license is what kind of numbers a FWA operator who will provide full mobility services should use.

It is recommended that FWA operators be obliged to provide fixed services on demand. FWA subscribers who use this service will  retain fixed numbers while new subscribers to fully mobile services of these operators will use a new mobile number.

It is also recommended that fixed line operators retain fixed numbers while new subscribers to fully mobile services will use new mobile numbers.

Numbering fees are to be paid for the allocation of numbering and for annual renewal.

INTERCONNECTION

Under the Communications Act, 2003 there is an obligation for interconnection. Most FWA and PNL operators interconnect directly with the fixed and mobile operators.

The move to the Unified license regime will therefore not change the structure of interconnection.

The interconnection obligation remains mandatory for all operators. Dominant operators will be mandated to publish a list of local and tandem exchanges on which interconnection is possible and also publish a Reference Interconnection Offer (RIO)

FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT

Frequency Spectrum issues will be dealt with separately as provided for under the Act and Spectrum licenses. Frequency Spectrum fees will be paid in accordance to the Frequency Spectrum (Fees and Pricing, etc.) Regulations, 2004.

NUMBER OF UNIFIED LICENSES TO BE ISSUED

In the new framework, unified license operations would be open to competition. Subject however to the availabibilty of frequency spectrum.

The Commission may however, consder issung a new license if it determines that the competitive environment is inadequate. 

                     
QUALITY OF SERVICE

OPERATING LICENSE FEES

A.     The Commission proposes  the following fee schedule for National and Regional Mobile service     

   National Mobility                         N260m     

   Regional Mobility                        (Based on the tier structure in table below)

 

	TIER	LICENCE  FEE (NAIRA)
	1.	33,000,000
	2.	20,000,000
	3.	16,000,000
	4.	14,000,000
	5.	9,000,000

 

Note: Details of the Tier Structure can be downloaded.

B.     The following fee schedule is proposed for any Fixed telephony operator wishing to migrate to unified License;

   Operating License fee for mobile service as appropriate
Operating license fee for International Data Access (Gateway)              25,000,000
Operating License fee for National long Distance                                  20,000,000
Operating license fee for regional long Distance (within a state)              1,000,000

Note: Any PTO wishing to migrate to Unified Licensing should surrender its existing licence and would be credited the unexpired portion of its licence fees and issued a unified license of 10 years tenure.

C.     Fees to be paid by existing mobile operators wishing to migrate to Unified Licence  

           Operating licence fee for Fixed Telephony                                                44,600,000

         Operating Licence fee for International Gateway                                      50,000,000

         Operating Licence fee for National Long Distance                                     20,000,000  

   Issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission
   March 01, 2006.