The Nigerian government gave confidence to small telecommunications operators in the country last Friday with a promise to help them survive in a market where "mega" operators excel.

"Small operators must be protected from big operators," said Minister of State for Information and Communications Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande at the IT Edge West African Convergence forum in Lagos. "The massive growth in the sector and this telecom revolution that we see today can only be sustained by not only the big operators but the small operators as well."

Most industry observers recognize the dominance of Nigeria's three mega operators -- MTN, Glo and Zain -- in GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), while small operators dominate the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) sector.

Through the introduction of policies favorable to all stakeholders, the government will not allow small companies to be submerged by larger competitors, Nakande assured.

Nakande also announced the federal government's decision to merge the country's telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission, and its counterpart in broadcasting, the National Broadcast Commission, into the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

"We believe that the era of convergence holds much promise for a government-to-citizen relationship ... whether for people in rural or urban areas," he said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.