The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced a mandatory N10 million licence fee for companies sending bulk international SMS, commonly referred to as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages. These are automated messages often sent by banks, hospitals, e-commerce platforms, and political campaigns. The new directive is part of a regulatory overhaul aimed at curbing fraud, spam, and unchecked capital flight from Nigeria’s telecom ecosystem.
The NCC emphasized that the international SMS space in Nigeria has been underregulated, leading to a rise in fraudulent and spam messages. With increasing mobile phone and digital service usage, the risk of abuse continues to grow. The Commission warned that failing to regulate this sector could lead to serious financial and cybersecurity implications for the country.
To address the issue, the NCC is creating a centralized message gateway to monitor all A2P traffic in real time. This system will help track messages, enforce correct fee payments, and ensure that more money generated from telecom services stays within the Nigerian economy. All providers will be required to integrate into this system to continue operations.
New operational rules include strict data protection requirements, sender ID verification, encryption protocols, and user consent for promotional messages. Consumers must have the option to opt in or out, while companies must maintain transparent pricing and store message logs for at least six months. Messages from unverified sources will be automatically blocked.
The Commission will license only operators capable of preventing fraud and complying with the new cybersecurity and consumer protection standards. Violators face penalties including fines, suspensions, or licence revocation. The framework aligns with the Nigerian Data Protection Act of 2023 and is part of broader federal efforts to strengthen digital regulation and national cybersecurity.
Source: The sun