NCC designs regulatory framework to boost mobile VAS market

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is planning to develop an industry-driven regulatory framework to strengthen the mobile Value Added Service (VAS) market. The volume of business activities in mobile VAS segment of the Nigeria’s highly competitive telecommunication industry is currently valued at $200 million year-on-year. The revenue is, however, expected to more than double to reach $500 million in the next few years if proper regulatory framework is put in place. Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, disclosed this during an interactive session with the VAS operators and mobile network operators (MNO), on the regulatory framework for the VAS segment of the industry in Lagos. Addressing a gathering at the forum, Juwah, who was represented by the executive commission, Stakeholder management at commission, Okechuwkwu Itanyi, said the forum was aimed at presenting the Commission’s findings of some unethical conducts in VAS provision and chart a w ay forward in the VAS segment of the Nigerian telecoms industry.  “The exponential growth in the Nigerian telecom industry, in the last 12 years, has given rise to the evolution of the mobile phone from a device just to support communications requirement to a smart phone with the capacity to provide a plethora of services”, he added.

 The NCC boss said noted that, given the decreasing Average Revenue Per User, ARPU, in the voice services owing to increased competition, telecoms service providers in Nigeria now see value added services as a new vista of opportunity to add a new revenue stream for the mobile network operators.

“According industry experts, mobile VAS is currently worth over $200 million annually with huge potential to accelerate to $500 million in the next few years,” he said. Juwah, however, said based on the impressive value of the market, “we must seize the opportunity to ensure the right market practices by the operators in the VAS segment of the telecoms industry to enrich the consumers total quality service experience.” He noted that, recently, the industry has witnessed some practices and behaviors in the VAS segment, which a, as individuals subscribers and as industry regulator have given us lot of concern.“The Commission has received avalanche of complaints from Nigerian subscribers regarding forceful activation of various value added services by service providers without explicit consent. Worse still, these services are auto-renewed resulting to perpetual look-in of subscribers by the VAS providers,” he said. In his submission, the National Coordinating Consultant, Wireless Application Service Providers of Nigeria, WASPAN, Simon Aderinlola, harped on the need for the telecoms regulator to look into the area of revenue sharing among MNOs and VAS providers in its proposed regulation.

He also noted that there is a need for increased collaboration among NCC and operators to set up a central database centre where unsolicited VAS messages can be screened and monitored,  adding that the regulator should protect the indigenous VAS players. 

Meanwhile, Efosa Idehen, head, compliance monitoring and enforcement the Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement at NCC, has stated that the ultimate objective of the interaction was not top witch hunt any mobile VAS providers or MNOs but “to ensure the provision of fair and transparent value added services to consumers and protect operators’ investment for healthy competition in the Nigerian telecoms space.

Ben Uzor & Justice Okamgba