NDUKWE SEEKS GOVERNORS SUPPORT ON BROADBAND PENETRATION

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”.