WorldStage Newsonline– The challenges facing the Mobile Telecommunication industry in the country are getting heightened by the day. Increasing overheads is one of the major pointers and for years now, key players of the telecommunications industry have been on the fore front of diluting and tackling all matters surrounding this bottleneck.
Right of Way (RoW) is a major challenge to telecommunication firms, but for the avoidance of doubt, let’s do a little definition. RoW is a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for transportation purposes, such as highway, public footpath, rail transport, canal, as well as electrical transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines etc. In the case of Nigeria’s mobile telecommunication industry, RoW is granted by State Government to telecommunication firms to lay fiber optic cables which will in turn help expand the broadband penetrations to inner cities and rural areas thereby ensuring excellent internet user experience and a wider network for all, in personal lives and businesses. Needless to say that the importance of Communication Technology cannot be overemphasized in every facet of our lives, the need to take the Mobile telecommunication industry and its challenges seriously commands equal respect.
In November 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria. The strategy is based on 8 key pillars aligned with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) for the realization of a Digital Nigeria. One of the key pillars in the plan is the development of Solid Infrastructure through the deployment of fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure to deepen broadband penetration in the country and drive the growth of an inclusive and vibrant digital economy.
Infrastructure is at the very core of the success of every National Broadband Plan worldwide. It has also become obvious that one of the challenges hindering broadband penetration and service coverage in the country lies in the glaring infrastructure deficit in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria as a subset of the infrastructure deficit across the Nigerian economy. Most of the infrastructure available seems to be over-provisioned in choice areas, mainly due to overriding commercial considerations of operators in the industry. These challenges have been identified in this report and prescriptive steps have been recommended to address them.
The vision behind the Nigeria broadband plan seeks to accelerate high speed internet and broadband access to rural and urban area for social economic growth and to attract foreign direct investment.
So, for this reason, Nigeria’s Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, representing their various agencies, have played vital roles in neutralizing some of these challenges.
Prior to the dispensation of the current Minister for Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Is a Pantami, efforts have been made to help telecommunications firms reduce or erase the cost of constructing Right of Way per linear meter of fibre. From agreeing to a reduced cost of N145.00 per linear meter of fibre away from up to N6,000.00 per linear meter of fibre to more clamour for further possible reductions and eventual waver by some states of the federation.
However, the efforts of various committees including those set up by the National Executive Council, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to neutralize the challenges of costs to run the Right of Way by telecommunications firms, we seem to be back where we started. Earlier this year, some of the states who had hitherto agreed to reduce or wave the cost of constructing Right of Way, arrived with a sudden intention to increase the cost of RoW by over 1,200%, an action that was quickly followed by a reaction by Dr. Ali Pantami, the Minister of Digital Economy. Dr. Pantami had quickly reminded Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum of the agreement to have the cost of RoW at N145.00 per linear meter of fibre, Dr. Fayemi had quickly complied reducing Ekiti’s cost of RoW from N4, 500.00 to N145.00 per linear meter of fibre. A few other states like Plateau, Imo, Katsina and Kaduna had followed suit but that is only a few state from 36 of the federation including the Federal Capital.
But for the sake of ensuring that the social development and the economic digitisation of the nation is not a mirage, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy is not resting on its oases.
In a virtual conference organised by both agencies of the government on Thursday, August 13, 2020, the Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta ably represented by the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, highlighted the new paths towards reigniting the ease of doing business for investors in the telecommunications industry especially on issues bothering on cost of RoW.
Part of the resolutions at the conference included;
– Assisting the government in the further reduction of the encumbrances bedeviling ICT infrastructure especially in the building of resilient fixed infrastructure in the federation.
– Assisting in the quest to deepen broadband deployment and penetration in Nigeria.
– Ensure Ubiquitous broadband propel social and economic development and growth of local content, proliferation of ICT industries and building digital skills.
– Collaborate with the UK Government Prosperity Fund-Nigeria Project, especially in reforming the administration of RoW and planning permits in Nigeria.
With this renewed visions of the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Ministry of Digital Economy, alongside projected healthy collaborations between state governments and telecommunications operators, the challenges of RoW construction may soon be a thing of the past and Nigeria will soon join at the fore front of a fully digitised economy in Africa.
