The government announced on Wednesday a new telecommunications policy that will end the effective monopoly of the state-run group NITEL on international calls, AFP reported.
According to AFP, following pressure from local and international
operators, the Ministry of Communications said that under the new policy, NITEL would have to operate under a licence like "all the licenced operators".
Currently, private telecommunications operators and would-be operators have to go through NITEL to access international lines, giving the state-run corporation an effective monopoly.
Several major international operators have expressed interest in the potentially lucrative telecommunications market in Nigeria.
Only a minority of the country's 120 million people have access to telephones, AFP said.
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