The Nigerian Communications Commission hosted a Consultative Forum on Value Added Services Aggregator Framework at the Commission’s head office in Abuja. The Forum Is one of a series of Consultations started by the Commission since early last year with different stakeholders of the VAS sub- sector of the industry to discuss and fine-tune the framework’s regulatory intervention.
The framework designed by the Commission in consultation with industry players and Kayafas Consult, the Consultant engaged for the development of the framework, is to be adopted to enhance regulatory excellence and ease the operations of VAS provision in the Nigeria’s telecoms industry.
The addition of the VAS Aggregator player to the original Value chain ( Content Developer- VAS Provider- Network Service Provider) will lead to the recreation of the value chain into a framework of Content Developer- VAS Service Provider- VAS Aggregator- Network Service Provider.
The VAS Aggregator will provide direct and secured connection to content and application providers, otherwise called VAS providers for access to all network operators that have the capacity to transmit value added services to end users. This framework will also ease revenue collection and its sharing, a contentious area between VAS providers and Network Service Providers and, will also help address the menace of unsolicited text messages to end users without their consent by making it mandatory for network providers to establish a central database into which subscribers can register their phone numbers for the purpose of preventing the receipt of any form of advertisement. Operators and aggregators are to ensure that no adverts are sent to any telephone number on the database.
The VAS segment of the industry despite its challenges appears to be a hub for employment opportunities huge revenue generation and national economic development.
The Commission is still consulting with industry stakeholders and, this will eventually lead to the licensing of few VAS Aggregators to provide the link.