NCC okays MTN, 9mobile for national roaming service

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Sunday said it had granted approval for two mobile network operators (MNOs) – Telecommunication Network (MTN) Nigeria and the Emerging Markets Telecommunication Service Limited (EMTS), trading as 9mobile – to carry out trial of National Roaming Service (NRS) for three months.

The trial, the regulator said, started on August 1 and will end on October 31, 2020.

With the approval, the telcos are expected to configure their networks to begin test and simulation for customer experience.

The trial approval covers a few local governments designated as the National Roaming geographic areas in Ondo State.

NRS enables a mobile subscriber to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services when travelling outside a particular network geographical area by utilising the network coverage of other networks with roaming arrangements to access service.

NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the primary objective of NRS trial is to encourage network resource sharing, among operators.

He said this will lead to operational expenditure (OPEX) optimisation and capital expenditure (CAPEX) efficiencies, leading to freeing up of resources to expand mobile network coverage to unserved and underserved communities across the country, which will lead to improved Quality of Service (QoS) delivery to subscribers.

“The successful implementation of the trial will enable EMTS subscribers to access MTN network service within the National Roaming trial geographical area without the need for an MTN Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card,” Danbatta said.