NCC revises guidelines on commercial satellite communications, operators to pay $10,000 per satellite

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered that space segment landing rights providers or licensed owners of a satellite in space shall henceforth pay a one off fee of $10,000USD (Ten thousand United States dollars) for the life span of the satellite.

This was contained in the 2017 revised commercial satellite communications guidelines containing general scope, objectives and terms and condition of operation released by the regulator on its website Thursday

The NCC said that spectrum usage fee for earth station(s) registered in Nigeria shall be based on the economic value of the spectrum. It gave the following guide as determining the spectrum fee- L band $5,000, C band, $15,000, KU $10,000, KA $10,000 and Esim terminals, $2,000.

It noted that licensing of earth stations, space segments, VSAT terminals and landing rights shall be on the basis of availability and in accordance with any licensing method as may be determined by the Commission.

According to the NCC, all satellite ground stations equipment and end user terminals must be type approved by the Commission before being imported or put into use in Nigeria. Manufacturers will be allowed to obtain a general certification for each model, after which users will not be required to type approve other purchased units of that model.

Type approval may however be waived where the applicant or licensee satisfies the Commission that the International Telecommunications Union ( ITU) certification has been given under Global Mobile Personal Communications By Satellite (GMPCS) memorandum of understanding with respect to the said equipment.

The NCC said the guidelines are designed to ensure a well-developed and organized satellite communications market in Nigeria with appropriate legal framework that meets international best practices, encourages innovation and guarantees public safety in the rendering of commercial satellite services.

The guidelines would also help to manage scarce frequency resource, especially in bands where frequency is shared between satellite and terrestrial systems; to encourage the use of satellite connectivity to unserved areas that lack terrestrial transmission infrastructure backbone encourage the use of satellite communication infrastructure in Nigeria as a means of providing long-haul transmission facilities; and to provide protection from impermissible levels of interference to reception of signals by earth stations in the fixed/mobile, among others.

In a bid to ensure a robust and efficient regulatory framework in the system, the NCC early this year commenced the process of harmonizing new regulatory guidelines for the telecommunications industry.