FG SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH LAGOS TO REDUCE COST OF ROW

THE Federal Government has made an agreement with the Lagos State Government to reduce the cost of Right of Way(RoW) for telecoms companies operating in the state.

Base on the new agreement, telecoms operators in the state will now pay N500 per meter instead of the N3000.

Describing the agreement as a landmark achievement for the Federal Government, the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobolaji Johnson told key industry players at the soft launch of the ‘Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians’ Broadband Awareness Campaign that the agreement has resulted to a significant reduction of RoW cost to 85 per cent.

The minister who is also the Chairman of the Broadband Council was in Lagos to flag-off the Broadband Awareness Campaign and attend the Council’s meeting.

She explained that the Broadband Council launched the awareness campaign to communicate the transformational benefits of broadband to all Nigerians and to encourage its use and adoption. 

According to her, the campaign will raise awareness of the transformational benefits of Broadband and will disseminate information on the benefits of broadband including what can be gained by adopting broadband access.

The campaign she stressed, will also share information on how broadband is creating economic and social value for Nigerians.

Recalling what transpired at the Council’s meeting, she stated that the work done so far on the implementation of the Broadband Plan was reviewed adding that what was done to make states government to reduce or remove ROW way charges were also discussed.

She added that issues on other related fees that enable operators have unencumbered means of laying fibre optic cables, which is critical for infrastructure development and quality of service were reviewed were on the agenda of the meeting.

Johnson further disclosed that issues on how to engage state governors and relevant authorities at the state and federal level to address the issue of multiple taxation were caught the attention of the Council.

The Minister noted that Government wants measures to be adopted on how to remove arbitrary charges and eradicate multiple taxation necessary for effective service delivery across the nation saying that a collaborative agreement between the Ministries of Communication Technology (including the NCC) and Environment (which includes NESREA), is also now in place to address such issues.

She said further that an MOU that outlines the roles and responsibilities of each department with respect to base station deployment and approvals of Environmental Impact Assessments necessary for effective service delivery in the telecoms sector is now operational.

She reassured stakeholders present at the launch that the Council, the Ministry and its Departments and Agencies are keen to see an increase in the rollout of 3G-enabled base stations that comply with state and federal standards adding that the timeline for the processing of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports will no longer exceed 90 days, an obstacle often highlighted by Operators.

While answering questions from the stakeholders, the minister stressed that plans to release more spectrum by the NCC are ongoing and that as a result the 2.3GHz auction has commenced while a complementary Infraco licenses will follow soon.

She disclosed that the first draft of the Critical National Infrastructure Bill has been submitted for comments while a Gap Analysis of the coverage of the country has been completed by the USPF.

Johnson explained that the purpose of the access gap study by USPF is to ascertain/determine priority for unserved and underserved areas and direct appropriate investments to these areas. This will inform plans for addressing under-served and unserved areas across the country.

The Minister said that the achievements are in line with the President Goodluck Jonathan’s goal of seeing broadband penetration increase five-fold by 2017, and the action items stipulated in the Broadband plan.

It will be recalled that the Broadband Council which was inaugurated on the 16th of July, 2013 and is made up of 19 members chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson.

The Council is charged with the responsibility of working on implementation modalities for the approved Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2013 – 2018.

The Federal Government has made an agreement with the Lagos State Government to reduce the cost of Right of Way(RoW) for telecoms companies operating in the state.

Base on the new agreement, telecoms operators in the state will now pay N500 per meter instead of the N3000.

Describing the agreement as a landmark achievement for the Federal Government, the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobolaji Johnson told key industry players at the soft launch of the ‘Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians’ Broadband Awareness Campaign that the agreement has resulted to a significant reduction of RoW cost to 85 per cent.

The minister who is also the Chairman of the Broadband Council was in Lagos to flag-off the Broadband Awareness Campaign and attend the Council’s meeting.

She explained that the Broadband Council launched the awareness campaign to communicate the transformational benefits of broadband to all Nigerians and to encourage its use and adoption. 

According to her, the campaign will raise awareness of the transformational benefits of Broadband and will disseminate information on the benefits of broadband including what can be gained by adopting broadband access.

The campaign she stressed, will also share information on how broadband is creating economic and social value for Nigerians.

Recalling what transpired at the Council’s meeting, she stated that the work done so far on the implementation of the Broadband Plan was reviewed adding that what was done to make states government to reduce or remove ROW way charges were also discussed.

She added that issues on other related fees that enable operators have unencumbered means of laying fibre optic cables, which is critical for infrastructure development and quality of service were reviewed were on the agenda of the meeting.

Johnson further disclosed that issues on how to engage state governors and relevant authorities at the state and federal level to address the issue of multiple taxation were caught the attention of the Council.

The Minister noted that Government wants measures to be adopted on how to remove arbitrary charges and eradicate multiple taxation necessary for effective service delivery across the nation saying that a collaborative agreement between the Ministries of Communication Technology (including the NCC) and Environment (which includes NESREA), is also now in place to address such issues.

She said further that an MOU that outlines the roles and responsibilities of each department with respect to base station deployment and approvals of Environmental Impact Assessments necessary for effective service delivery in the telecoms sector is now operational.

She reassured stakeholders present at the launch that the Council, the Ministry and its Departments and Agencies are keen to see an increase in the rollout of 3G-enabled base stations that comply with state and federal standards adding that the timeline for the processing of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports will no longer exceed 90 days, an obstacle often highlighted by Operators.

While answering questions from the stakeholders, the minister stressed that plans to release more spectrum by the NCC are ongoing and that as a result the 2.3GHz auction has commenced while a complementary Infraco licenses will follow soon.

She disclosed that the first draft of the Critical National Infrastructure Bill has been submitted for comments while a Gap Analysis of the coverage of the country has been completed by the USPF.

Johnson explained that the purpose of the access gap study by USPF is to ascertain/determine priority for unserved and underserved areas and direct appropriate investments to these areas. This will inform plans for addressing under-served and unserved areas across the country.

The Minister said that the achievements are in line with the President Goodluck Jonathan’s goal of seeing broadband penetration increase five-fold by 2017, and the action items stipulated in the Broadband plan.

It will be recalled that the Broadband Council which was inaugurated on the 16th of July, 2013 and is made up of 19 members chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson.

The Council is charged with the responsibility of working on implementation modalities for the approved Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2013 – 2018.