CHAIRMAN,
OpenMedia Group and President of Broadband Right Africa, has called on all
state governors in the country to be advocate of broadband so as to create a broadband
enabled environment.
Ndukwe
made the call in an opening remark at an International Forum On Accelerating
Nationwide Broadband Access in Nigeria organised by OpenMedia Group in
conjunction with Atlantic Telecoms and Media in Lagos.
He
stated that the Broadband Right Africa (BR-Africa) was borne out of the drive
to make broadband truly ubiquitous and affordable saying, “If all State Governors in Nigeria,
for instance, become Broadband Rights Advocates, Nigeria would become a
broadband enabled environment in a couple of years.”
Nduwke
who is also a member of the Broadband Awareness Campaign established by the
Federal Government noted too that even the whole of Africa would have access to
broadband if leaders in the continent become committed advocates like Paul
Kigame of Rwanda.
He
told participants at the event, which had in attendance the minister of
Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson
as well as captains of the ICT industry from the public and private
sector that Nigeria needs the support of the governors to change the current
status report, which gives an estimated broadband penetration of only about 6
per cent in 2012.
He
said that the Federal and some State Governments have initiated targeted
actions to improve the accessibility and affordability of high speed broadband
for both urban and rural Nigeria.
He
recalled that in September 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated a
12-man Presidential Committee to craft a National Broadband Strategy and
Roadmap to drive accelerated increase in broadband penetration in Nigeria.
According
to him, the Committee's report was submitted on the 30th of May 2013 and was
promptly approved by the President and subsequently launched by the Minister of
Communication Technology in June 2013.
He
also said that a National Broadband Council for the five-year plan was
inaugurated on the 16th of July, 2013 and mandated to provide periodic progress
reports on the evaluation of the plan, facilitate the coordination and
collaboration of the various stakeholders during plan implementation, and
ensure that relevant agencies and institutions are actively engaged and
monitoring the progress of the plan and highlighting adjustment areas if any.
Professor
Sama Nwana, chief executive officer, Atlantic Telecoms & Media, in his
remark described the NBP as a critical step to addressing the challenges,
stressing that the second target of achieving affordability for five per cent
average monthly income earners is tricky.
Nwana
tasked the industry players to adopt the best model that guarantees quality service
and return on investment, citing study that shows different models enable
operators recoup 50 per cent revenue from circa 10 per cent telecom sites,
while 50 per cent revenue was made by some from 30 per cent sites and 10 per
cent others from 50 per cent sites.
The
Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson during a Ministerial
Platform anchored by Esther Ugbodaga of CNBC Africa, said that government is
passionate about increasing internet penetration in the country.
She
explained, “Penetration goes up when there is relevant content and people see
the need to get on the internet and so people will buy a N2000.00 phone if it
will get them onto the internet.”
The
minister assured that she will not advocate for the imposition of taxes on devices
while pushing for affordable broadband internet access for Nigerians at same
time adding that the Federal Government is poised towards tackling the
challenges of broadband access in the country.
According
to her, what she sees as challenges are the surmountable issues of policy and
cost in the broadband access for the country saying that the four fold
broadband plan for the country is achievable, “if all stakeholders work
together as a team.”
She
noted that policy issues are not a challenge to the broadband because the
industry has a reliable regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission,
which concerned about the growth of the industry.
Johnson
however observed that what she sees as challenge is the size of the country and
getting governments in enter country to implement Federal policies on broadband
explaining that it becomes difficult to implement a policy when we have to work
with different state governors from different political parties and with
different agenda as well as different players in the 36 states of the country.
On
the challenges of cost she noted that the National Economic Council (NEC),
which include the state governors, have agreed to crash the cost for the Right
of Way (ROW) but that when it comes to implementation there is no commitment
from the states.
The
minister noted that in the case of Lagos state where the ministry has recorded
a landmark achievement for Right of Way, it had to work with the Ministry of
Work, Science and Technology and urban regulatory authority.
She
disclosed that all states have agreed to crash the cost of ROW and in exchange
get access for schools in their domain.
Describing
as huge the task of getting all 36 states governor to key into the broadband
plan for the nation, she stated that none of the governors are unaware of the
great importance of broadband to the growth of the national economy noting
however, that what most states are concern about is the need to increase the
revenue base of their states.
She
however observed too that the operators have not really help matters as the
huge money they spend on promotion gave them away as heavy spenders thereby
making it possible for states to demand all sorts of taxes from them adding
that some states are yet to link the closure of base stations to the growth of
the economy
The minister revealed that every Bill that
comes out of the National Assemble is thoroughly examined for areas that may
negatively impact on the telecoms industry saying that “if we allow the taxing
of input of the industry without looking at the output then we will be reducing
foreign direct investment.”
While
reacting on the claim of 4G LTE by data service providers, she debug reports
that those claims are spurious saying that the introduction 4G LTE services
from Smile Communications Nigeria Limited and others are accurate.
She
urged Nigerians not to be sceptical about their promises to deliver true 4G LTE
technology services adding that a worrisome trend in the industry currently is
the fact that out of every Kobo spend on rollout of infrastructure by the
operators, 70 per cent goes to taxes, levies and ROW.
She
said it is not true that government is unwilling take pressure from the
operators but that it is not good for the operators to be getting sanctions
every six months due to poor quality services stressing that government will
not take the operator off the hook.
Johnson
expressed shock concerning claims from certain quarters that the ministry has
not carried the industry along effectively, stating that there was a wide
consultation before the broadband plan was forwarded to the president for
approval.
According
to her, a committee of all stakeholders was set-up to draw the broadband plan
that was eventually submitted to the Federal Government explaining that all the
operators have their several broadband plans and strategy, and all that was
done was to merger and harmonise them into one saying “it took us 6 months
instead of 3 months to work and bring all under one national plan”.
She
disclosed that government is working to ensure that the price for data comes
down further saying that we may not get to the $5 price per gigabyte by 2015.
She
however noted that government is making progress as the price is not what it
used to be three years ago stating that it is work in progress and “a target
that we can achieve”.
