Bad behaviour does not fare well under exposure. People, institutions, and systems tend to be at their best when the spotlight is on them. A United States Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, captured the power of transparency aptly when he observed in a 1913 article that “sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant; electric light the most efficient policeman.”

Transparency, like sunlight, exposes. Bad behaviour that prefers to remain unseen either falls in line or risks public embarrassment. Information, when placed in the hands of the public, empowers them. For businesses, it deters them from conduct that is unbecoming, because few welcome sustained scrutiny that ultimately damages their reputation.

The telecommunications industry is no exception. The regulatory approach adopted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to proactively disclose information—bringing clear and easy-to-understand information to the public domain—is reshaping how consumers, operators, and investors perceive the sector.

Traditionally, regulation in the industry leaned heavily on a punitive, command-and-control model. The regulator made the rules, enforced them, and wielded the whip to keep operators in line. But with well over a thousand licensed operators, the whips were never going to go around. One must also pose the question: do whips truly inspire better behaviour? But that is a subject for another conversation.

In a competitive environment as we have in telecommunications, operators are driven by the need to outperform one another. They compete for subscribers, promote attractive bonuses, and roll out sleek tariff offerings. When this competition plays out in an open and transparent field—where accurate, timely, and comparable information is available—consumers ultimately benefit, and operators are incentivised to improve.

Take an example from late 2024, when the NCC concluded an audit of the national telecoms subscriber database following the implementation of the Federal Government’s NIN–SIM linkage policy. Over 60 million lines were removed from the system. The regulator did not attempt to massage the numbers or obscure the reality. The facts, though stark, were presented plainly. Operators were confronted with their true subscriber figures, and the signal was unmistakable: it was time to sit up. Operators immediately began to develop and deploy strategies to get more subscribers—both lost and new ones—to their network.

Sunlight, indeed, does two things—it brightens, and it heats. Both can be uncomfortable if they hit you unprepared.

The NCC’s directive mandating mobile network operators and major Internet service providers to notify consumers of significant service disruptions and planned maintenance aligns squarely with this transparency and accountability ethos. In the same vein, the NCC last year launched a Major Network Outage Incident Reporting Portal on its website. On this platform, operators now report major outages they face, their causes, affected areas, and restoration timelines.

Sometime in 2025, the NCC introduced its Guidelines on Corporate Governance for the telecommunications industry. The framework mandates operators in the sector to have stronger board composition and effectiveness. It enhances compliance and ethical standards and demands more robust risk management and audit practices in the sector. Crucially, it advances transparency and accountability across the sector. Operators are now required to submit mid-year and annual compliance reports detailing adherence to governance standards, ethical obligations, and risk management practices. The Guidelines strengthen public trust, bolster investor confidence, and preserves the integrity of the industry.

Further deepening this transparency drive, the NCC, in partnership with Ookla, began publishing quarterly operators’ network performance reports in October 2025. These reports benchmark quality of service and quality of experience across operators. They also provide insights into network capacity, 5G opportunities, and device performance.

Similarly, the NCC has launched its National Coverage Maps. The maps allow consumers to visualise network coverage, speeds, and service availability across the country.

Taken together, these measures place the industry in the public glare—open to scrutiny and assessment. For consumers, they are enabled to make more informed choices about networks and tariffs. For operators, transparency in the industry imposes a new era where performance is visible, shortcomings are exposed, and accountability is no longer abstract. To protect their brands and market positions, operators must now resolve network challenges more quickly, communicate more honestly, and deliver better service.

Investors take transparency in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry seriously. For them, it signals regulatory predictability and reduced uncertainty—conditions that give investors the confidence to commit capital to the sector.

Perhaps most importantly, this openness helps rebuild public trust in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.

It is unsurprising that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) ranked the NCC among the top five Federal Government agencies for transparency and efficiency in 2025. The ranking affirmed that the Commission’s effort to place the industry under public scrutiny was being felt—and seen.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, captured the moment succinctly: “This recognition is an affirmation of the values that guide our work: transparency, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to regulatory excellence. It signals that the reforms we have pursued, the systems we have strengthened, and the decisions we have taken are yielding the right results.”

There are still gaps the industry must close. Yet this approach—proactive disclosure, borderless transparency, and consistent accountability—clearly places the NCC on the right path to addressing both long-standing and emerging challenges in the telecommunications sector.

Darkness preserves the status quo. Turning on the light sets reform in motion. By ensuring tariff clarity, publishing real-time coverage maps, making network performance and operator ratings public, and enforcing a corporate governance framework rooted in accountability, the NCC is cultivating a culture in which the lights remain on. Competition is sharpened, performance becomes non-negotiable, and underperformance has nowhere to hide.

Johannes Wojuola, is the Special Adviser to the EVC/CEO, NCC, on Communication and Media. He writes from Abuja.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is planning to launch a cross-sector platform that will allow financial and security regulators to track recycled phone numbers to prevent fraud linked to SIM card reassignment.

The details of the plan were contained in a document provided to our reporters last week.

Known as the telecoms identity risk management system (TIRMS), the portal is expected to be launched by the end of March.

The portal is NCC’s solution to tackling issues related to SIM recycling, such as users receiving text messages meant for previous owners, or being investigated for offences allegedly committed by former users of those numbers.

According to the document, the above challenges are said to present issues of security and integrity of phone number ownership, especially as NCC’s churn policy now interacts more with other industries.

The agency said the portal will collect and share data on churned (recycled) mobile numbers and numbers flagged for fraudulent activities across sectors.

“The NCC has addressed this challenge by developing a cross-sector platform called the Telecom Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) Portal that collects and shares data on churned (recycled) phone numbers as well as numbers that have been flagged as having been used for fraudulent activities, as reported by other sector regulators,” the document reads.

“The goal is to prevent the misuse of numbers when they change hands. The information on this platform will be made available to relevant stakeholders across various sectors.
“It is worth noting that this requires significant dialogue as KYC needs of different sectors vary and need to interact properly.”

The document said the platform, which has been built and tested with telecoms operators, will be hosted by the commission but made accessible to key stakeholders, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pension regulators, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and security agencies.

It said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CBN is being finalised to operationalise the system upon launch, adding that the platform, whose development began in March 2024, will go live after the conclusion of consultations with relevant stakeholders.

It is understood that the NCC has commenced amendments to the quality of service (QoS) regulations of 2024 and the registration of communications subscribers regulations of 2022 to support the deployment of TIRMS.

“A consultation on the proposed amendments to the Business Rules of the Quality of Service Regulations 2024 and the Registration of Communications Subscribers Regulations 2022 is currently underway and is expected to be concluded before the end of March 2026,” the NCC document said.

“Upon completion of the review, the revised rules will provide for the notification of line owners whose numbers are about to be churned, using alternative contact channels within a specified timeframe prior to the disconnection.”

“The amendments will also establish the regulatory framework for warehousing churned numbers within TIRMS, enable controlled access for relevant sectors, and create clear procedures for blocking numbers that have been implicated in fraudulent activities.”

It added that subscribers who wish to retain unused numbers can utilise the “line parking” provision under the QoS business rules, which allows a line to be preserved for one year at a minimal cost to prevent it from being classified as inactive.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on interested industry stakeholders to make written submissions to the Commission on the ongoing review of the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) 2000.

The Commission has set Friday, March 20, 2026, as the deadline for all submissions from stakeholders to be addressed to the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Commission.

The consultation process, which is in exercise of the Commission’s functions under the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 and upon the activation of the provisions of Section 24 (1) of the Act on conducting consultative processes for the review of policies, is the first step in the public consultation process to guide the review of the subsisting NTP 2000.

The review of the NTP follows the inauguration of a Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) and a Ministerial Technical Committee (MTC) by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, to commence the process of reviewing the NTP 2000.

Section 24 (1) of the NCA, 2003 states that “Prior to the formulation or review of the general policy for the Nigerian communications sector, the Minister shall cause the Commission on his behalf to first carry out a public consultative process on the proposed policy formulation or modification.”

The policy review will also align with the Minister’s Strategic Blueprint- Accelerating Our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency, which states that the Ministry will drive the review of the Telecoms Policy to account for core issues such as spectrum management, universal access, broadband penetration, net neutrality and quality of service (QoS).

The consultation process and its outcome will support the work of the MSC and the Implementation Committee (IC) in coming up with a reviewed policy that will meet the current challenges of the communications sector and keep up with the rapid and dynamic changes since the current NTP was issued 26 years ago.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said in the published consultation paper, that the process will lead to the development of the first draft of the NTP 2026 to replace the existing NTP 2000, following 26 years of implementation.

The draft will also undergo further consultations to enable stakeholders to make more input before a final draft is subjected to the statutory policy approval and validation processes.

“The NTP 2000 has been instrumental to advancing Nigeria’s telecom sector from where it was 26 years ago – from a mere 500,000 lines to almost 180 million active mobile connections as of December 2025.

One of the gaps that the revised policy seeks to address is the increased demand for data services and its externalities.

“This is a first step in the consultation process and there will be other layers of engagements, to ensure that the final draft accommodates varied expertise, feedback and inputs from a cross section of stakeholders,” Maida said.

He implored stakeholders to take the opportunity to participate in developing the policy that will take the communications sector to the next level after the immeasurable successes attained since 2000.

The NTP 2000 marked a major progression from older policies, aiming for liberalisation, modernisation, and competition under the nascent democratic government. NTP replaced the 1998 Policy and successfully paved the way for the growth of mobile telephony and the eventual NCA 2003 by focusing on market deregulation and stakeholder consultation.

In the ongoing review, there are 15 key policy proposals, which form the baseline for the review and potential changes to the existing NTP and provide both the context and policy purpose for necessary changes.

The policy proposal caters to regulation of the industry, its sustainability, emerging technologies, national security, among others.

According to the EVC, the expected feedback will guide the review and amendment of the NTP in line with the expectations of the NCA, 2003.

“The consultation process is open to licensees in the Nigerian communications sector, consumers, agencies of government, international agencies/partners/entities, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), individuals and other interested stakeholders,” he said.