Framework for Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing

Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing is no longer an optional course of action to be adopted by service providers and industry regulators, for it has evolved into a public policy issue. This is due to the impact it has on the telecommunication sector ecosystem and the environment. Two broad categories of Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing, active and passive sharing, are implemented by various types of sharing, namely, equipment and resource sharing, collocation, leasing, hosting and national roaming. Successive implementation of these sharing types is anchored on key Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing principles, namely, Mutual Negotiation, Non-Discriminatory Offers, Technical Feasibility, Cost Effectiveness and Environmental Considerations. Development of a robust policy on sharing of Telecommunication Infrastructure therefore requires adherence to a framework that takes into consideration all concepts and fundamental principles of Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing. All these are dependent on the Network Infrastructure Open Access theory whose building blocks are open access regulation and open access network model.