The Major Players

Recognizing the benefits of market liberalization, NCC’s strategies have been rather aggressive but phased, allowing for relevant experiences to be developed, internal capacity built, and adequate resources mobilized. Initially, emphases were placed on services, but with the licensing of the Second National Carrier in 2002 and National Long Distance Operators, there has been a deliberate effort to promote sustainable development of core infrastructure. To a large extent, the effect of the deregulation of the telecommunications sector over the last few years has been largely positive, giving rise to:

	Increased level of private sector participation;
	Increased range and quality of services available to citizens;
	Effective lowering of costs of acquiring and using the services;
	Increasing level playing field for service providers via the removal of bottlenecks hitherto created by the monopoly operator;
	Drastic reduction in the waiting time for telephone installation and service delivery;
	Improved service penetration to a larger and growing number in under-served and un-served urban, semi-urban and rural areas alike;
	Creation of direct and indirect employment opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled citizens;
	Additional revenue for government through spectrum and numbering fees, import duties, VAT, etc.;
	Increased participation of the banking sector in the financing of telecommunications network development and roll out of services;
	Increased foreign investment from private companies, international and multilateral institutions based overseas.

In summary, new entrants and aggressive competition, increasingly discerning consumers, and a dynamic, vigilant and responsible regulatory body presently characterize the Nigerian telecommunications environment, where virtually every type of telecommunications service is now available in one form or the other, by several operators and service providers. Consequently, there are evidences of rapid growth in the demand, usage, density and coverage of telecommunications services nationwide.