NCC Begins Telecom Pricing Review After Eight-Year Hiatus

The Nigerian Communications Commission has launched a comprehensive review of telecom interconnection pricing for the first time in nearly a decade, partnering with consultancy firm KPMG on the exercise.

The review, which commenced on Tuesday in Lagos with a mobile termination rate stakeholder forum, brings together regulators, operators, and industry participants to reassess wholesale pricing rules governing payments between networks for completing voice calls.

Mobile Termination Rates are regulated fees paid by one operator to another to complete calls across networks and play a critical role in influencing competition, investment, and retail pricing.

The telecom regulator noted that the current framework, last set in 2018 and adjusted in 2022, has been overtaken by structural market changes, including 5G rollout, expansion of data-led services, and the entry of mobile virtual network operators.

Macroeconomic pressures such as currency depreciation and inflation have also significantly altered operators’ cost bases.

The Head of the Competition and Tariff Unit at the NCC stated that the exercise goes beyond a routine tariff review and reflects the need to align regulation with a rapidly evolving industry, adding that new service categories and business models now require regulatory attention.

KPMG indicated that the study would combine data analysis, stakeholder consultation, and international benchmarking to inform a revised pricing framework.

As part of the process, the NCC will require operators to submit detailed financial and operational data covering revenue, costs, profitability, market share, capital expenditure, and service quality over multiple years.

The engagement will include bilateral technical sessions with mobile network operators, mobile virtual network operators, international carriers, and interconnect exchange providers.

The NCC and KPMG will benchmark Nigeria’s framework against peer markets, including South Africa and Kenya, alongside emerging economies such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

The commission stated that the review is intended to support a pricing framework that is transparent, competitive, and capable of sustaining investment in network infrastructure and service quality.

The NCC Director of Public Affairs confirmed that the exercise cuts across the entire telecom value chain and urged operators to comply with timelines for data submission.