The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says French multinational telecoms operator, Orange Group plans to enter the country’s telecommunications market.

The regulator said a team from the Orange Group’s Middle East and Africa (MEA) division, led by Orange Group non-executive director Victoria Adefala, visited its headquarters to inquire about market opportunities in the country.

According to the NCC, the company is fully determined to do whatever it takes to secure a share of the Nigerian telecommunications market in diversified areas including mobile, data, fixed line, as well as financial technology support services.

Adefala said Nigeria is missing in Orange Group’s portfolio of combined network of over 140 million subscribers across 18 countries of its operations.

She said, “We are here to ensure steady investment for a long term. We want to support the vision of the commission (NCC) in driving broadband penetration for a robust digital economy and leverage on local content development initiatives. The large market potentials buoyed by a huge population, impressive GDP figure, proximity to our operations in neighbouring African countries as well as appreciable operating environment are great motivators for our expansion plan into the Nigerian telecom market.”

NCC executive vice chairman Prof. Umar Danbatta has welcomed the company’s interest in Nigeria and assured the delegation they can expect a robust policy and regulatory environment “that provides enabling environment for such investments.”

He said the commission has undertaken several regulatory steps aimed at improving operational environment such as the ongoing collaboration with the Nigerian Governor’s Forum to reduce right-of-way charges to telecommunications infrastructure deployments.

Danbatta said, “We welcome more investment 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 thrive while we also ensure that they comply with the Quality of Service (QoS) and key performance indicators set by the commission because Nigerians will patronise an operator that provides them with affordable services at high quality.”