To appreciate the necessity and the importance of cabotage law ,we need to refresh our minds with some background information on the operating environment. Nigeria made up of 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory has a total land area of 924,000sq km with an estimated population of about 130 million (latest IMF figure).

Between January 17 and 19, 2001 Nigeria made record by successfully holding Africa’s first spectrum auction for the provision of second generation digital mobile telephony services. Three Digital Mobile Licences (“DML”) were on offer and each of the Licences had a reserve price of US$100,000,000.00. There were 5 Bidders for the Licences and at the conclusion of the Auction, each of the Licences was sold at US$285,000,000.00.

Introductory Issues
• Distinguishing factor between e-commerce and other transactions is the electronic element.
• Most existing laws and regulations do not provide for the electronic element in e-transactions and that by itself necessitates the modification of the laws and regulations to accommodate this element.
• Primary vehicle for e-commerce is the Internet and Information technology and the legal framework must not only address the commercial aspect of the transaction but also the technology issues.

Reproduced below is a Report prepared by Richard Fawcett, an attorney in Hong Kong, on a recent ruling by the Hong Kong communications industry regulatory authority, Office of the Telecommunications Authority [“OFTA”] which we believe the Nigerian communications industry regulators, Nigerian Communications Commission [“NCC”] and National Broadcasting Commission [“NBC”] and indeed all industry stakeholders – in particular, law and policy makers and the practitioners – can learn plenty from.

The sale or purchase of a ship simply put is the transfer of ownership from a buyer to a seller for a price i.e the purchase price. The process of securing funds for the transaction is called ship finance. The critical parties in a ship purchase transaction are the seller (shipowners), buyer (shipping company), broker/bank (financing).

In March 2007, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, awarded Third Generation Mobile Telephony, 3G, spectrum licence to four companies: Celtel Nigeria Limited, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Globacom Limited and Alheri Engineering Limited after a tender and pre-qualification process and the payment of a deposit USD15M into the Commision's account.

Seminar at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Nigerian Bar Association
Ibadan Branch
08 December 2004

Interconnectivity basically means the connection of two telecommunications systems in a manner that enables the subscribers on both systems to seamlessly access each other.