By Funmilola Gboteku
A telecommunications stakeholder, Mr Chidi Ibisi, has called on the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) to deliberately create space for small
operators to survive alongside dominant players in the industry.
Ibisi, Executive Director, Business Development at Broadbased Communications
Ltd., made the call at a Stakeholders’ Forum on the Study of the Level of
Competition in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said while innovation-led and investment-led market dominance by major
operators was undeniable, regulatory recommendations must deliberately
accommodate smaller players to ensure a balanced and competitive market.
“The big players are well-known. They have invested, and they are dominant. We
can’t disagree with that, but we are making a plea that in your recommendations,
you allow room for small players to be able to play,” Ibisi said.
He stressed that the study should be transparent, saying the industry had nothing to
hide, especially as regulators were already examining market behaviour.
According to him, data required for the competition study is already available and
not a secret, adding that the concern of small operators is how the findings would
translate into policy actions.
Ibisi warned that without deliberate regulatory mechanisms, dominant players
could crowd smaller operators out of the market, not necessarily through unfair
practices but by sheer scale and investment power.
“You cannot fight the big player, that is the reality, what we are asking for is a way
to work harmoniously, where everyone gets a piece of the pie,” Ibisi said.
He urged the NCC to consider sector-specific approaches that recognise dominant
players in different segments of the industry while carving out opportunities for
smaller firms.
“In every sector you want to name, there are dominant players. What we’re saying
is, in each sector, carve out a mechanism where small players can survive,” he said.
Ibisi cited the United States telecommunications market as an example of a highly
competitive environment where operators of different sizes coexist, adding that the
U.S. market supported nationwide, regional and rural operators, as well as small,
family-owned fixed-line companies that had existed for decades.
“That is the most competitive market on the planet, yet small, medium and big
players are all surviving,” he said, but expressed confidence that with the right
regulatory framework, Nigeria’s telecom industry could achieve similar balance.
