Nabilah Safira
TechInAfrica – Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced on Sunday (25/10) that it had approved MTN and 9Mobile for a 3-month national roaming service trial starting from August 1, 2020.
The two telecom operators have to run the network test and simulations by first configuring their system. Some covered areas include local governments in Ondo state.
What the roaming service for mobile phone users is, that a user of 9mobile can receive or make calls, and access the internet through MTN without having to port their SIM to MTN’s.
This will benefit users coming from an area with poor network coverage, as the roaming service, which is scalable and less costly, will invite more infrastructure to be deployed to run the network model. Yet, for the telecom operators, a national roaming service means any telecom that has built a base transceiver station or telecom masts allow other telecom operators to do overlay installation unto the existing station that reduce the infrastructure cost.
As the advantage goes to both sides, the difficulties found in deploying infrastructure in Nigeria might seem far-fetched. However, the telecom unions still see national roaming, even when forcing telcos companies to have uniform pricing, the only alternative to provide an affordable and accessible service for the network poor areas.
Source: Techpoint.africa
