MTN Nigeria and 9mobile plan to seek regulatory permission to roll out national roaming on their respective mobile networks, 9Mobile CEO Alan Sinfield told The Africa Report. The decision follows a trial of national roaming between the two companies in Ondo State. Nigeria national roaming

As previously reported by CommsUpdate, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved the trial between market leader MTN and second-placed 9mobile last year, stating that the tests could be conducted for a period of three months, from 1 August to 31 October 2020, in a few local governments, designated as the ‘National Roaming geographic area’, in Ondo State.

According to the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Umar Garba Danbatta, the primary objective of the national roaming trial was to encourage network resource sharing among operators. He said this would lead to operational expenditure optimisation and capital expenditure efficiencies, thereby freeing up resources to expand mobile network coverage to unserved and underserved communities across the country, which will result in improved quality of service delivery to subscribers.

‘The successful implementation of the trial will enable 9mobile subscribers to access MTN network service within the National Roaming trial geographical area without the need for an MTN SIM card,’ Danbatta said last year.

Free national and international roaming provision has been gaining ground in Africa. In 2014, East African Community countries agreed to create a single network area for five national economies, with mobile roaming charges eliminated. The move led to an immediate surge in traffic: according to the World Bank, inbound roaming calls to Kenya from Rwanda increased by over 950% when the change was introduced.

Six members of the Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale agreed last year to end roaming charges by the start of this year. And since January 2020, people travelling in the Economic Community of West African States have been able to roam without paying charges.

• With a roaming agreement, there is no need for additional infrastructure to cover a gap in the network. So cash can be saved can and used elsewhere.
• The Nigerian Communications Commission has said that roaming agreements can help increase capital expenditure efficiency. It hopes the saved cash can be used to provide more infrastructure in unserved parts of the country.
• The industry “should be doing more to collaborate” to increase access, says Sinfield. “Collaboration is the way forward for a market of this size.” Nigeria national roaming

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