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Telcos in Nigeria hoping to have a regulatory intervention that will stop over the top (OTT) communication services may be waiting in vain. The regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is not keen to rule against OTTs and is urging a broader approach to OTTs that should see telcos angling to venture aggressively into OTTs.



OTT application is any apps or services delivered over the internet and usually bypass traditional or legacy operators. The pervasive use of Whatsapp, Facebook, Viber and the likes to exchange messages and calls is deemed a threat by many operators to their revenue. They have asked the regulator to intervene and want a ceiling on OTTs.



But the regulator has cautioned that muscling OTTs will amount to stifling innovation.



“[Regulating OTT is] not on the table at the moment. We have actually carried out a research and the report is on our website. When the issue of OTT came up and network operators were complaining that OTT is eating into their profit, we made them understand that it’s a liberalised market. The operators should be offering some value…http://itedgenews.com/2016/05/26/nigeria-wont-regulate-otts-nccs-ojobo/