The Legal Framework for Licensing Telecommunications Services in Nigeria

Abstract

Telecommunications services remain key to the developmental quest of any nation state in the present 21st Century. The attendant benefits of an enhanced telecommunications services cannot be overemphasised with globalization. Incidental to the breakthrough in telecommunications services is the sophistication of cybercrime, thus, the need for regulation and control through licensing. This paper employed the doctrinal approach in examining the legal framework for licencing telecommunications services. The paper discusses what is licensing in telecommunication services as well as, the types, mode of licensing and the rationale behind licensing in telecommunications services. The paper considers the requirements and procedures for obtaining individual licence and class licence in Nigeria. Knowingly well, that telecommunications services continue to witness technological advancement and breakthrough globally, the paper recommends that the regulator in Nigeria which is the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), should ensure full liberalization of telecommunications services. It is also the recommendation of this paper that where private investors are licensed with minimal conditions, investment and competition is triggered as such better service delivery and more revenue to the Government. The paper also recommends that penalties for operating without license in telecommunication services should be more severe so as to deter prospective offenders in Nigeria. Also, offenders should be prosecuted timeously, efficiently and meted the required penalties, as it will constitute deterrence to prospective offenders for breaches of the provisions of the law.