Following the need to ensure ubiquitous and hitch-free communication within the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has rolled out guidelines that will govern roaming agreements between mobile network operators.
Introducing the guidelines, the Commission noted: “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.”
Roaming refers to the ability for a cellular customer to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services, including home data services, when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of the home network, by means of using a visited network. For example, should a subscriber travel beyond their cell phone company’s transmitter range, their cell phone would automatically hop onto another phone company’s service, if available.
National roaming allows a subscriber to communicate freely on a network distinct from the main network, especially in areas where there are no networks.
According to the NCC, the objective of these Guidelines is to prescribe a regulatory framework for the implementation of National Roaming services in Nigeria.
The released document from the Commission addresses the scope, procedure and considerations for National Roaming agreements and charges. It also addresses the legal implication, technical provisions, dispute resolution, and operational provisions, among others.
According to the NCC, the national roaming service agreement, which will not exceed a duration of three years from date of execution, can only be renewed by the express permission of the Commission.
The Commission further noted that in addition to these Guidelines, the following existing Regulations and Guidelines shall be taken into consideration in drafting National Roaming Agreements:
- Quality of Service Regulations;
- Guidelines on Collocation and Infrastructure Sharing;
- Spectrum Trading Guidelines;
- Mobile Number Portability Business Rules & Port Order Processes; and
- Any other regulations or guidelines published by the Commission from time to time that have provisions relating to or impacting on national roaming.
The regulator also reeled out the responsibility for regulatory compliance which include that each network shall be responsible for its own compliance with regulatory provisions under the Quality of Service Regulations, including but not limited to quality of service and network availability.
Also, any complaint on call masking, call refiling, suspected fraud by the Roamer shall be reported to the Home Network for investigation and possible compensation as may be included in the National Roaming Agreement.
Concerning provision of subscriber information, the Commission mandates that all requests for subscriber information by Security Agencies made pursuant to the Act and any other relevant regulations or guidelines shall be the responsibility of the Home Network.
Furthermore, in the Guidelines the NCC provided the procedure for National Roaming which included that duly authorised Service Providers shall request and negotiate National Roaming Agreements with each other on bi-lateral and non-discriminatory terms; that a Roaming Seeker requesting for National Roaming services shall forward a duly completed Roaming Request Form A contained under Schedule 1 of these Guidelines to the Roaming Provider; a Roaming Provider shall notify the Roaming Seeker of its approval or rejection of the Roaming Request in line with the procedure stated in the document; and finally 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 Provider responds to the Roaming Request.
The Guidelines on national roaming is on the Commission’s website.
