*The Nigerian Communications Commission in partnership with KPMG services assures telecoms industry stakeholders the ongoing Mobile Termination Rates review process will examine pricing practices across wholesale and retail segments in the telecommunications sector of the economy
Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect
As the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Lagos, commenced a far-reaching, comprehensive review of the country’s Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs), KPMG, a services consultancy firm, has said a combination of factors of sustainability of prevailing tariff structures, investment capacity, service quality, and consumer affordability underscored its recent study of the country’s telecoms pricing framework.
Mobile Termination Rates are regulated fees paid by a network operator to another to complete calls across networks.
They usually influence competition, investment, and retail pricing in the telecoms ecosystem.
ConsumerConnect reports the NCC in partnership with leading services consultancy firm KPMG, disclosed it has begun comprehensive) the sector’s tariff framework in nearly a decade.
KPMG is the consulting firm engaged by the Nigerian Communications Commission, to conduct a comprehensive review of the West African country’s Mobile Termination Rates and International Termination Rate (ITR), regime.
The firm has unveiled a detailed methodology that will underpin the study aimed at determining new wholesale telecom pricing benchmarks.
The Stakeholder Consultative Forum Tuesday attracted industry regulators, network operators, and industry participants into a structured process to reassess wholesale pricing rules that have govern telecoms payments between networks for completing voice calls in the last eight years.
In regard to the power conferred on the Commission to undertake the ongoing MTR review process, the NCC affirmed the review is being conducted in accordance with Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.
Rationale for MTR stakeholders’ review process
The Commission said the overarching objective of the process is to ensure tariffs remain cost-reflective and non-discriminatory.
The telecoms sector regulator said the current framework, last set in 2018 and adjusted in 2022, had been overtaken by structural changes in the promising market.
The NCC said such changes include the deployment of 5G services, the boom in data-driven services, and the entry of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in the telecoms space.
According to the Commission, macroeconomic pressure, including currency depreciation and inflation, and emergence of new technologies have all significantly altered operators’ cost bases in recent years.
Major areas of focus in MTR study, by KPMG
Expatiating on the nature, scope and objectives of the study to participants at the Forum, KPMG disclosed the study combined data analysis, stakeholder consultation, and international benchmarking to inform a revised pricing framework.
In his insightful presentation at the Forum, Oluwole Adelokun, Partner and Head of Tax, Regulatory and People Services at KPMG, affirmed the NCC designed the exercise to identify gaps in the current pricing regime, and assess whether a structured review cycle is required or otherwise.
Adelokun stated the process depends on industry input.
The Partner and Head of Tax, Regulatory and People Services said: “It is important that we get inputs from the industry in terms of potential solutions and recommendations to address the shortfalls.”
It is equally noted that under the ongoing review process, the NCC and KPMG would examine pricing practices across wholesale and retail segments and assess whether emerging services are adequately captured under existing regulatory definitions.
The services consultants affirmed that network operators have applied varying pricing models within regulatory limits, making it necessary to examine how these structures function in practice.
According to the firm, as part of the review process, the NCC would require operators to submit detailed financial and operational data covering revenue, costs, profitability, market share, capital expenditure, service quality, and usage trends over multiple years.
KPMG said the dataset would offer a clearer view of industry trends and the cumulative impact of existing pricing rules.
The engagement will include bilateral technical sessions with mobile network operators, mobile virtual network operators, international carriers, clearing houses, and interconnect exchange providers.
Likewise, industry participants are expected to involve finance, technical, and commercial teams in the discussions, KPMG noted.
Subsequently, the NCC as the foremost industry regulator, and KPMG will benchmark Nigeria’s framework against peer markets, including South Africa and Kenya, alongside emerging economies such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
According to the consultants, the objective of this process is to identify global best practices and determine lessons relevant to Nigeria’s evolving telecommunications ecosystem.
KPMG disclosed the final phase of the study would involve the development of a forward-looking cost model, based on internationally recognised methodologies.
What about cost modelling approach?
Presenting details of the modelling approach, the KPMG’s telecommunications cost modelling specialist explained that the study would adopt the Long Run Incremental Cost Plus, LRIC+ methodology, a cost standard widely used by regulators around the world to determine termination rates.
The firm further explained the model would capture both capital expenditure and operating expenditure associated with network deployment.
It will also account for shared and common costs such as administration, regulatory fees and overhead expenses, KPMG official stated.
The consultants said the model would be built, using a “bottom-up” approach that reflects the costs of a hypothetical efficient operator, allowing the NCC to determine cost-based rates that are forward-looking rather than based solely on historical expenditures.
The consultants said key modelling inputs would include subscriber numbers, traffic volumes, network coverage, spectrum holdings, network architecture, asset costs and demand forecasts extending to 2030.
According to them, the model will also evaluate different depreciation methodologies, cost recovery mechanisms and weighted average cost of capital assumptions to determine their impact on regulated pricing outcomes.
KPMG explained the network costs would be allocated to different telecommunications services through routing factors that identify the extent to which each service consumes network resources.
The firm as well emphasised that stakeholder participation would be critical to the success of the exercise.
In order to facilitate the process, it said detailed data request templates would be distributed to operators covering network coverage, subscriber growth, traffic forecasts, capacity utilisation, cost structures, asset lives, operating expenses and investment plans.
The consultants, therefore, urged operators to provide complete and accurate information.
KPMG observed that the quality of industry data would directly influence the robustness of the final model, and the credibility of the study’s recommendations.
The consultants, in the study, said the selection reflected similarities in macroeconomic conditions and regulatory responses to sector development.
On the necessity of the exercise, the Commission as well revealed that the evolution of the telecoms over the past decade has introduced new business models not fully reflected in current regulatory framework.
The study would also assess the sustainability of prevailing tariff structures, with attention to investment capacity, service quality, and consumer affordability in the all-important sector of the Nigerian economy, noted the consultancy services firm.
NCC: Regulatory framework must evolve with fast-moving market
Earlier, in her presentation of the KPMG study report to the audience at the Stakeholder Consultative Forum Tuesday, Mrs. Omotayo Mohammed, Head of the Competition and Tariffs Unit at NCC, said the exercise was more than a routine tariff review.
Mohammed noted that it reflects the need to align regulation with a rapidly evolving industry.
The NCC Head of the Competition and Tariffs Unit also acknowledged the telecoms market has changed materially since the last determination both in technology deployment and market structure.
She equally affirmed that new service categories and business models now require regulatory attention in the telecoms environment.
Mohammed asserted: “For regulation to remain effective in a fast-moving market, our frameworks must evolve in step with it.”
In view of the extensive deliberations at the Forum, industry stakeholders expressed support for a transparent and evidence-based review process, while emphasising the need for any future pricing regime to balance consumer interests, investment incentives and long-term sector sustainability.
The Commission also indicated that findings from the study would form the basis for future regulatory decisions on wholesale interconnection pricing in Nigeria’s telecommunications market, report noted.