The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has released an amended working draft of the Business Rules for Mobile Virtual Network Operations (MVNOs), with a comprehensive framework to regulate onboarding, integration, revenue sharing, and consumer protection in the country’s fast-evolving telecoms sector.
The rules, published in Version 2.0 of the commission’s MVNO guidelines, are aimed to clarify licence scopes, address operational challenges, and strengthen competition in Nigeria’s mobile communications market.
The new rules are in response to feedback from industry industry players, especially regarding the smooth takeoff of MVNO operations in the country, following about three years since the NCC licensed some 43 operators, which paid over N8.6 billion for various tiers of licenses.
Only about three of the licensees have actually kickstarted operation at present. While some others are said to be in the process, others appear overwhelmed by industry challenges and business agreements with host operators.
While NCC has called for stakeholders’ input in the new draft to ensure wider industry participation, the new framework seeks to establish enforceable rights and compliance requirements for MVNOs and Host Network Operators (HNOs), promote fair access to network resources and hosting arrangements, reduce onboarding delays between MVNOs and HNOs, ensure service quality, transparency, and consumer protection, and support innovation and sustainable industry growth.
The commission emphasised that MVNOs must operate strictly within the scope of their licence tiers, while HNOs are prohibited from discriminatory practices that could frustrate integration or delay service rollout.
The rules reaffirm Nigeria’s five-tier MVNO licensing system, each with distinct roles and limitations: Tier 1 (Service-based MVNOs, limited to branding, CRM, and VAS hosting), Tier 2 (Simple-facilities MVNOs, allowed to issue SIMs and operate billing systems but reliant on hosts for switching and interconnect), Tier 3 (Corefacilities MVNOs, permitted to own switching and interconnect elements), Tier 4 (Aggregators/ Enablers (MVNE/MVNA), providing shared platforms for lower tiers), and Tier 5 (Unified MVNOs, capable of hosting lower tiers but restricted from spectrum ownership).
