By Ukpe Philip
France’s largest telecom network service provider Orange Group has indicated interest to operate in the Nigerian market.
The company is planning to be part of Nigeria’s service space, in diversified areas including mobile, data, fixed and financial technology support services.
The Nigerian Communications Commission said in a statement that six-member team of Orange Middle East and Africa, led by Mrs. Victoria Adefala, met with the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Umar Danbatta, to discuss the development.
Orange said it wants to share in Nigeria over 206.4 million mobile market with 150.7 million active internet users.
Orange had in 2020 launched its Middle East and Africa expansion campaign with special focus on Nigeria and South Africa.
Adefala told the Nigerian authority that, “We are here to ensure steady investment for a long term. We also want to support the vision of the Commission in driving broadband penetration for a robust digital economy and leverage on local content development initiatives.
“The delegation including Orange’s Africa Director of Regulatory Affairs, Mr. Jean Chalhoub, sought clarifications on several regulatory and policy issues that will engender the company’s speedy entry into the country.
“The large market potentials buoyed by the huge population, impressive Gross Domestic product (GDP) figure, proximity to our operations in the neighbouring African countries, as well as the appreciable friendly operating environment are great motivators for our expansion plan into the Nigerian telecom market.”
Danbatta told Orange that the federal government’s Economy Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and regulations have been designed to protect investors.
He said there are deliberates regulatory steps aimed at improving the operating environment such as the ongoing collaboration with Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF) to reduce Right of Way (RoW) charges on telecom infrastructure deployments.
The NCC boss said the NCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with various government and institutional stakeholders across the country.
“We welcome more investments into the Nigerian telecom sector. We have enabling laws and regulations that help us to engender a highly competitive telecom market that benefits both the service providers and the consumers.
“The NCC is here to ensure we support our licensees to thrive while also ensuring that they comply with Quality of Service (QoS) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by the Commission because Nigerians will patronise an operator that provides them with affordable services at highest quality,” he said.