NCC urges MVNOs to Collaborate to Boost Industries, Economy
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has charged the stakeholders in the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) industries to collaborate on various efforts that will contribute positively while continuing to ensure that operations are conducted within the respective telecommunications licenses to ensure that service challenges and demands are adequately delivered.
This remark was made by the Executive Vice Chairman Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta in a keynote address delivered at the Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum, (TSSF) held in Lagos.
Represented by Alhaji Mohammed Babajika, NCC, Director of Licensing and Authorisation, Danbatta said that the theme “creating awareness and ensuring sustainability of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Nigeria’s 5G Ecosystem” is not just apt but in sync with the commission efforts in encouraging investment of this robust and dynamic telecommunications sector.
The EVC apprised the stakeholders with the commission plan and strategy for the deployment of MVNO service in Nigeria and the way forward pursuant to the NCA 2003 licensing regulation 2019 and other subsidiary regulations the commission has created an environment where various players provide diverse services based on the licences issued by the commission.
He posited that in its drive to create an enabling environment, the commission has introduced mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that will generate employment and also bridge the gap between the unserved and the underserved in the society, adding that it will also engender competition and provide choices for the telecommunications consumers.
According to him, the MVNO license is five tier classification that has distinctive services to be offered by the players in different tier as listed below:
“Tier 1 is a virtual operator which relies totally on hosts’ facilities with restricted tariff control.
“Tier 2 is a simple facilities operator who owns an intelligent network and has loose tariff control.
“Tier 3 is a core facilities operator which negotiates interconnect agreements, and has major tariff control.
“Tier 4 is a virtual aggregator enabler which performs aggregation and enabling, but only operates in unserved regions.
“Tier 5 is the unified virtual operator which has freedom to operate in the whole segments/tiers,” he said.
Interestingly, he explained that a mobile virtual network operator does not own spectrum resources and radio elements, stressing that this however becomes a grey area as examples exist where some virtual operators have a level of control of radio access elements.
MVNOs, he said, are typically classified according to their operational models or market segments.
“The operational models define how much of the value chain on MVNO control to deliver its services while its segments are market within the economy an MVNO may service the Nigeria market is reported to have the demand for differentiated services with lots of gaps in several sectors especially mobile to fixed market M2M, B2B and the rural networks,” he added.
Additionally, he disclosed that the growing concern of OTT players eating into operator’s ARPU offers prime opportunity for MVNOs to partner with these players therefore directing some revenue back to the MNOs through its wholesale agreements.
“Most importantly, with the commission’s use of a multi-tier system for licensing MVNOs, potential licensees must complete its wholesale agreements with the MNO. The bouquet of services depicted in the framework attempts to capture the several diverse levels of MVNO operations as observed in other markets,” he explained.
On the other hand, 5G networks are predicted to have more than 1.7 billion subscribers worldwide by 2025, according to the GSM Association.
He pointed out that the main advantage of this new networks is that it will have greater bandwidth, giving higher download speeds, eventually up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbit/s)
L-R: Chidi Ajuzie, WTES Chief Operating Officer, Ajibola Olude, Executive Secretary, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Alhaji Mohammed Babajika, Director Licensing and Authorization at the NCC, and Bukola Olanrewaju, Managing Editor, Business Remarks and Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum (TSSF) Convener, at the second edition of Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum (TSSF) held in Lagos.
In his words: “Due to the increased bandwidth, it is expected that it will not exclusively serve cellphones like existing cellular networks but will also be used as general internet service providers for laptops and desktops, computers, competing with existing ISPs such as cable internet.
“Moreover, it is envisaged that the recent roll out of 5G technology in Nigeria will ensure more successes in the industry economic growth with the hope that it will not only usher in internet connectivity in the country but will provide an era of new and emerging technologies such as internet of things (IoT) Artificial intelligence (AI) Robotics and Big data to improve lives and standard of work.
“The industry consortium setting standards for 5G is the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). It defines any system using 5GNR (5G new Radio) software as “5G” , a definition that came into general use by late 2018. Minimum standards are set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
“Previously, some reserved the term 5G for systems that deliver download speeds of 20 Gbit/s as specified in the ITU’s IMT-2020 document,” he added.
The ITU-R, according to him, has defined three main application areas for enhanced capabilities of 5G, adding that they are Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) only eMBB is deployed in 2020 URLLC and mMTC are several years away in most locations’ convergence of WIFI and cellular.
“One expected benefit of the transition to 5G is the convergence of multiple networking functions to achieve costs, power and complexity reductions.
“LTE has targeted convergence with WIFI band/Technology via various efforts such as license assisted Access (LAA,5G Signal in unlicensed frequency bands that are also used by WIFI) and LTE-WLAN Aggregation (LWA Convergence with WI-FI Radio) but the differing capabilities of cellular and WIFI have limited scope of convergence.
“However, significant improvement in cellular performance specifications in 5G combined with migration from Distributed Radio Access Network (D4AN) to cloud or Centralized-RAN (C-RAN) and roll out of cellular small cells potentially narrow the gap between WIFI and cellular networks in dense and indoor deployments. Radio convergence could result in sharing ranging from the aggregation of cellular and WIFI channels to the use of a single Silicon Service for multiple radio access technologies,” the EVC emphasized.
He therefore charged stakeholders in the industries to collaborate on various efforts that will contribute positively while continuing to ensure that operations are conducted within the respective telecommunications licenses to ensure that service challenges and demands are adequately delivered.
He commended the Managing Editor, Business Remarks, and convener of the Forum, Bukola Olanrewaju for sustaining the programme, adding that the success of the gathering will result in strengthening partnership for improved service delivery.
“Confidently, our interactions today will engender seamless industry efforts and encourage all to stay committed and know that every individual’s effort and success is also a success for the industry and country as a whole,” he concluded.
