Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Nigeria - Regulator will introduce price caps for operators in the telecommunications industry but not direct price controls

[business week] Nigeria will introduce price caps for operators in the telecommunications industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission said.

The commission “will not engage in direct price control,” acting Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bello, who took over from Ernest Ndukwe early this month, said in the capital, Abuja, according to an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has 78.5 million operating telephone lines compared with 425,000 in 2000, Ndukwe said in early April. The growth in lines makes the price cap possible, Bello said yesterday.

The commission will start registering mobile-phone SIM cardholders from May 1 with a three-month transition period, which will enable operators to resolve problems with the process, Bello said.

Nigeria Plans to Cap Prices of Telecommunications Services

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