Technological Convergence and Regulatory Design Responses: A Model-Based Assessment of Telecommunications Governance in Nigeria

Technological convergence has increasingly blurred the traditional boundaries between telecommunications, broadcasting, and digital services, exposing the limitations of sector-specific regulatory frameworks. This article examines the implications of convergence for Nigeria’s telecommunications regulatory framework, with particular emphasis on the challenge of achieving regulatory coherence across overlapping institutional mandates. It argues that the central issue in converged communications governance is not merely institutional consolidation, but the capacity of regulatory systems to ensure coherent, coordinated, technologically neutral, and adaptive regulation. Relying on desktop research and employing an ideal-type analytical framework, the article examines three broad models of regulatory configuration: siloed, unified, and hybrid; drawing on the experiences of the United States, Singapore, and the United Kingdom to demonstrate that effective responses to convergence depend less on structural configuration than on the extent of coordination, mandate alignment, and institutional adaptability within regulatory systems. The article finds that Nigeria’s framework remains predominantly sector-specific despite emerging convergence across the digital communications sector, resulting in fragmentation, overlap, and regulatory uncertainty. It concludes that a hybrid framework grounded in formalised coordination, clearer mandate allocation, and function-oriented regulation provides the most suitable pathway for enhancing regulatory coherence in Nigeria’s converged communications environment.