Communications Practice

In 1995, PUC represented NITEL in the negotiation of the first Interconnectivity Agreement in Nigeria with pioneer cellular services provider, Mobile Telecommunications Services. We also drafted and negotiated the Interconnectivity Agreements between NITEL and Private Telecommunications Operators, PTOs, and NITEL and Econet Wireless Nigeria (now Celtel) and MTN following the Digital Mobile Licence (“DML”) Auction on 2001.

Represented NITEL in the negotiation of the Construction and Management Agreement, C&MA for the Nigerian SAT-3 trans-continental cable project. This was the first trans-continental cable project in sub-Saharan Africa involving 41 parties from Africa, America, Europe and Asia. We are currently advising a national long distance transmission services company, with concession agreements with Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria, PHCN, for the laying of optic-fibre transmission cable on the back of PHCN power transmission lines.

PUC served as legal consultants to NCC for Africa's first-ever spectrum auction which produced three Digital Mobile Licensees in January 2001. Senior Partner, Paul Usoro, SAN, served as the only solicitor and was one of two Africans on the seven-person Auction Control Team. PUC also served as the NCC legal consultants for the bid process that produced Nigeria's Second National Operator, SNO, Globacom Limited.

PUC advised Akwa Ibom Investments & Industrial Promotion Council AKIIPOC, the investment arm of the Akwa Ibom State Government on its investment in Celtel Nigeria Limited. Senior Partner, Paul Usoro, SAN, subsequently represented AKIIPOC on the Board of the company. Between 2005 and 2006, Usoro, served as Chairman of Celtel Board's Investment Committee and lead negotiator in a transaction worth over US$1bn.

PUC has worked with several start-up companies in telephony services, internet service provision, long distance operations, etc, to obtained licences, negotiate equipment supply and obtain required regulatory approvals for start-up and operations.

PUC worked with the National Assembly in drafting of the landmark Nigerian Communications Act which repealed the former NCC Act and laid the foundation for the convergence of the industry.

PUC has been involved in nearly all the landmark communications litigation in Nigeria including the pioneer lawsuit against, NCC and others by Motophone Limited challenging the revocation of its spectrum and mobile cellular licences. We have also successfully represented the NCC in a number of other lawsuits that challenged its decisions pursuant to the Nigerian Communications Act. More recently, PUC won a case for the NCC in a suit that challenged the competence of Lagos State Government to enact the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance Regulatory Agency Law 2004.

In 2000 the Federal Government instituted a Commission of Inquiry into the management of NITEL. PUC was one of three firms which represented NITEL, and was solely responsible for providing all the specialized support and advice, in communications law and practice, for the representation of NITEL.

PUC consulted for the reserved bidder in the failed 2002 NITEL privatization bid. Even though our client ended up as the reserved bidder, the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, generally acknowledged the superiority of our client's technical presentation. PUC made considerable inputs to the Technical Presentation and at some point acted as the lead strategic negotiator with BPE on behalf of the reserved bidder