TheNewsGuru

Tag: ATCON

  • Nigeria to experiment 5G networks with 5% population

    Nigeria to experiment 5G networks with 5% population

    5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity in the telecommunications industry, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is hoping to spread the network to at least 5% of the population upon deployment in the country.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, hinted on this while speaking of prospects for the Nigerian telecom industry at the post-Nigeria National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 event hosted by Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Abuja on Thursday.

    Danbatta, who had said the deployment of 5G networks will foster economic development, also expect the spread of 3G coverage to reach at least 80% of the Nigerian population in the coming years.

    He revealed that currently 56.4% of the population is covered with 3G, and that the commission hopes to spread 3G/LTE services to 100% of the population with a minimum broadband speed of 1.5Mbps.

    With the view to deepening broadband penetration in the country, Danbatta said complete upgrade of 2G BTS to 3G should be expected soon, and that all new sites would be LTE compatible.

    NCC expects to deploy at least one access point of fiber with a 10Gbps capacity in all the 774 LGAs of the federation through the InfraCo project and implement the harmonized RoW charges on State Government highways with Federal at the cost of N145/m, and also eliminate multiple taxation and regulations.

    Meanwhile, according to the latest edition of Ericsson Mobility Report, 5G is expected to reach more than 40 per cent global population coverage and 1.5 billion subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by the end of 2024.

    Danbatta had earlier said the commission had identified some potential frequency bands that might be harmonized for 5G deployment and therefore suspended the licensing of those frequencies.

    As the next generation of mobile standards is being finalized, commercial superfast 5G networks are expected to start deployment after 2020.

     

  • NCC plans to deploy broadband infrastructure to rural areas – Danbatta

    NCC plans to deploy broadband infrastructure to rural areas – Danbatta

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the commission will deploy massive broadband infrastructure to rural areas to boost internet access.

    Danbatta disclosed this at the Post-Nigeria National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 on Thursday in Abuja organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

    “What we envisage to happen next is that there will be massive deployment of broadband infrastructure in rural areas that are unserved and underserved.

    “The whole idea is that we are going to have a fiber access point in virtually all the 774 local government areas in the country.

    “By the time this massive deployment of infrastructure takes place and is concluded we hope to see the penetration hit the 70 per cent that we are talking about here.

    “Even though this has not been conclusively agreed upon, I will like to assure Nigerians of our readiness to deploy broadband infrastructure in rural areas.”

    Danbatta said that there were close to 200 access gaps mostly in the rural areas of the country.

    He said that NCC knows where the access gaps are, adding that the Universal Service Provision Funds (USPF) was targeted to close the access gaps.

    “We intend to do that by deploying more base transmitters’ stations in these areas and recently we have experimented and did a pilot on how we can deploy a rural technology broadband solution in order to bridge the gap faster.

    “So there is a provision in the 2018 budget as well as 2019 budget for deployment of this rural technology solution to bridge the gap faster.

    “And we have succeeded in bringing down the number of the access gaps from over 200 to about 190.

    “We have cut down on the number of Nigerians that will not access especially internet services from close to 40 million to around 32 million.”

    The NCC boss said that the commission was working with the National Broadcasting Commission to develop guidelines for the introduction of TV White space deployment.

    He said that the deployment of the TV White Space would deepen broadband penetration.

    Mr Olusola Teniola, President of ATCON said that the meeting was principally to see how the industry can work towards achieving a greater broadband penetration.

    He said that the industry suggested 70 per cent broadband penetration as being realistic in the next five years through the removal of obstacles that worked against the initial plan.

     

  • Nigeria aims to achieve new broadband penetration milestone

    Nigeria aims to achieve new broadband penetration milestone

    The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu on Thursday in Abuja expressed the ministry’s commitment to attain 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2021.

    The minister said this at a post “Nigeria National Broadband Plan 2013 to 2018’’, organised by the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

    The event had as its theme “Success, Prospects and Challenges’’.

    While applauding Federal Government’s efforts in moving from 18 to 31 per cent broadband connectivity between 2015 and 2019, Shittu said that more still needed to be done to attain greater feats.

    According to him, within the last three years, we have attained 31 per cent from 18 per cent.

    “It might seem laudable and I think it calls for celebration but I think that as a dynamic country such as Nigeria with the huge population and potential, we should really be thinking much higher.

    “My belief is that if we put all the current efforts together, in another two years we should be able to attain 70 per cent.

    “My ambition is two years rather than the five years that is being postulated,’’ the minister said.

    He explained that Nigeria would be redirecting efforts at using solar based masts to increase rural broadband connectivity.

    The minister pointed out that the move would be facilitated by the 100 million dollars loan the country intends to access from India.

    “The current mast that all the telecom operators use is very expensive to maintain.

    “They rely on electricity and we do not have electricity all around the country, so we have a situation where somebody who wants to build a mast of N40 million will also have to acquire 200 KVA generator and fuel it.

    “For this reason, we now redirected our efforts at getting solar based mast which would also have 50 kilometres radius so that if you have a land area of 100 kilometres, you will have two masts

    “It is cheap to maintain and all operators can depend on it, rather than having the rural operators to construct their own mast or lay their own cables.

    “We are doing all of these and I believe that within the next two months we should have an approval from Indian government for work to commence on deploying this to all rural areas in Nigeria,’’ Shittu said.

    The minister added that broadband connectivity must be seen as a fundamental right of every Nigerian.

    Earlier, the President of ATCON, Mr Olusola Teniola called for increased collaboration among telecommunication companies to create an industry that could attract more investors in the country.

     

  • Breaking: Former NCC Director, Tony Ojobo becomes President of African ICT Foundation

    Breaking: Former NCC Director, Tony Ojobo becomes President of African ICT Foundation

    Former Public Affairs Director of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Tony Ojobo has been appointed into the Board of Trustee (BoT) of the African ICT Foundation as President.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) exclusively gathered the former NCC Director of Public Affairs was appointed President of the foundation alongside Dr. Ing Pierre-François Kamanou, who will serve as first Vice President/Francophone Regional Director and Country Director Cameroon of the foundation.

    According to the African ICT Foundation, Mr. Ojobo’s appointment as President was in line with existing template of appointment introduced by the founders of the foundation in 2009 following nomination by watchers of the ICT/Telecoms industry in Nigeria.

    Also to serve in the BoT alongside the former NCC Director, who also is Chairman Kulturekode Hub, are Ms. Rachel Orumor as 2nd Vice President/Country Director, Republic of Benin, and Senator Iyere Ihenyen as Secretary-General.

    Other appointed members of the BoT are Dr. Kevin Nwanze, Professor Effiong Johnson, Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, Dr. Anthony Nwosu, Mr. Oludare Omoniyi Akinbo and Adebunmi Adeola Akimbo.

    TNG reports upon convening the first meeting of the BoT, Mr. Ojobo and the new leadership of the African ICT Foundation would elect other officials that will be responsible for the running of the foundation through the secretariat with the full support of its staff.

    In his letter of acceptance, Mr. Ojobo expressed excitement, saying “it is with a sense of humility that I accept this appointment, knowing that there abound an array of more knowledgeable and experienced professionals in this field”.

    “I feel humbled that I have been considered worthy of this responsibility. A portfolio such as this no doubt comes with a great deal of responsibility”.

    He stated that in the age when ICTs are major indices of economic developments, the continent of Africa cannot afford to be sleeping.

    “It’s high time we woke up to the reality facing us at this time. The advancement of the continent vis a vis the economic development lies with the ICT capabilities of her people.

    “With the level of disruptive innovations facing businesses today, there is need to assist businesses and governments with policies that can deliver the desired economic emancipation of Africa.

    “With the support of members of the board, we shall do our level best to add our voice to issues pertaining to ICT development in Africa,” he said.

    TNG reports inauguration of the BoT will hold February 2019 in earnest, subject to the approval of the BoT

     

  • ATCON, NIGCOMSAT partner on 30% broadband penetration target

    The Association of Telecommunications Companies Of Nigeria (ATCON) says it is partnering the Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT) to facilitate the attainment of 30 per cent broadband target by December 2018.

    ATCON President, Mr Olusola Teniola, gave the indication while speaking at a Strategic Business Interactive Session on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Broadband penetration is presently at 22 per cent.

    Teniola said that the interactive session between NIGCOMSAT and ATCON was borne out of the need to bring NlGCOMSAT’s services to ATCON members.

    He said that majority of ATCON members do not know that they coan buy capacity from NlGCOMSAT.

    According to him, those who know do not patronise NlGCOMSAT because they think NIGCOMSAT‘s prices are very high.

    ”Be that as it may, ATCON’s primary focus with respect to pervasive broadband is to see how our members can leverage on satellite technology for the deployment of broadband for socio-economic development of our country.

    ”In the last few years, ATCON has come up with some initiatives that are not traditional.

    ”The whole essence of thinking outside the box is to increase our impact on our members and the industry as a whole.

    ”This initiative would undoubtedly make our industry to realise its broadband target set by the federal government,” he said.

    Teniola said that the strategic business interactive session was designed to foster a mutually beneficial business relationship between ATCON members and NlGCOMSAT, with special emphasis on broadband penetration across the country.

    He said that the initiative was aimed at making NlGCOMSAT offer its quality services at a cheaper rate, for the patronage of members.

    According to him, the session is to support broadband service via satellite technology and to rejuvenate the satellite business among members.

    The Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, Ms Abimbola Alale, on her part, said there was the need to critically examine the prospects, challenges and future plans in deepening broadband penetration nationally.

    Alale said that the need for a mutual relationship to achieve broadband penetration in the country was long overdue.

    She said that Nigerians were waiting with keen interest to see how the industry would achieve the targeted broadband penetration.

    According to her, in this information age, broadband/communication services cannot be limited to few cities and towns in the country.

    She said: ”The farmer, the market woman, the student and a host of others are critical stakeholders in the nation’s quest for digital economy and inclusiveness.

    ”We commend the business focus and contribution of ATCON in taking services to the people in urban and sub-urban areas.

    ”Our collective efforts will yield better results across all parts of the country, in order to boost the overall business environment.

    ”A forum like this therefore, is not only timely but also critical to forge the frontiers of telecommunications operators and satellite operators for a common good.

    ”It is certainly true that there is tremendous capacity of broadband here in Lagos, but what about other areas in the country?”

    Alale said that the country was faced with a challenge to urgently cover those areas where broadband services were needed.

    She said that NIGCOMSAT would like to partner with ATCON to ensure achievement of the federal government’s plan of broadband penetration.

    ”I am pleased to inform you that Nigeria’s foremost satellite, NigComSat-IR is performing optimally and the Ka-band payload consists of eight active transponders with a bandwidth of 120 MHz each for communication and broadcasting services.

    ”It has three fixed spot beams over Nigeria, South Africa and Europe.

    ”For additional support, we have made back-up agreements with more than two satellite operators.

    ”We are commited to make NigComSat-lR readily available to serve as the nation’s gateway for ease of doing business in this digital age,” the Alale said.

     

  • Data rollover consumers’ gain, network providers’ loss

    The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has described the new government directive on data rollover as a demonstration of consumer protection which would, however, impact negatively service providers’ revenues.

    The ATCON President, Mr Olusola Teniola, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday that the directive would ensure full utilisation of data purchased by telecoms consumers.

    He said that the consumers’ protection would, however, be to the detriment of network providers.

    “Currently, the annual operating levy imposed on our members is 2.5 per cent, and it is based on our net revenues.

    “This directive may have significant impact on the revenue because within those seven days consumers are not being charged for data plan, it is a loss of revenue for our members,” he said.

    On multiple taxation, Teniola said that the association was in dialogues with government for harmonisation of the Right of Way (ROW).

    Teniola said that ROW was one of the major elements that would enable ATCON members to invest in broadband infrastructure.

    “Our association is hopeful that we will have a decision made by the government as to the best way forward in terms of harmonisation of ROW.

    “On the remaining 37 taxes, we are really seeking further dialogues with the Ministry of Finance and the President’s office to ensure that our industry is not being targeted for taxes that are duplicated not only by the federal but state and local governments.

    “Taxes should not only be applied fairly but also have to be seen to be able to intensify further investment critical for investments that government and the country require,” Teniola said.

    On 30 per cent broadband penetration, the ATCON president told NAN that major stakeholders were of the view that it would no longer be achievable in 2018.

    According to him, the reason for the inability is that issuance of infracos licenses is not done timely.

    “They were only concluded by the first quarter of this year and have just been issued to infracos.

    “Secondly, we have a situation where by the multiple forex mechanism in place does not create certainty in the minds of investors.

    “That means it is much more expensive to import necessary equipment to actually create the demand needed to achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration.

    “Finally, it is very important to state that multiple taxation needs to be harmonized to allow investment to appear without it incurring taxes,’’ he said.

    Teniola told NAN that multiple taxation was a major barrier achievement of 30 per cent broadband penetration by the end of 2018.

    The Nigeria Communications Commission had directed that, with effect from June 26, telecoms consumers should be able to roll over unused data for seven days.

     

  • NATCOMS decries levies by telecom operators

    NATCOMS decries levies by telecom operators

    The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) on Wednesday expressed displeasure at the numerous levies saddled on members by telecoms operators.

    The National President, Mr Adeolu Ogunbanjo made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

    According to him, the association is kicking against the new levy because it will lead to mobile operators jacking up their prices and that will affect subscribers.

    He added that it would also affect the growth of the industry and urged for its total removal.

    “The recent directive by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposing 0.00 per cent levy on all electronic transactions is a levy too many.

    “There are 38 levies already and this is the 39th imposed on telecoms operators by the three tiers of government and their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    “This is so wrong because the burden of it all will be on subscribers.

    “The network operators are complaining of these numerous levies and hindrances, adding that it has an adverse effect on network delivery and efficiency,” he said.

    Ogunbanjo said that the levy would not augur well for the telecoms industry in the country as it was coming when the world was encouraging people on data usage.

    He said that what the government was doing was to encourage subscribers on one hand, and on the other hand make things expensive with the introduction of the levy.

    “This should not be entertained at all and we are joining other industry stakeholders in condemning it.

    “Government is talking about all electronic transactions and we are going cashless, it is simply unacceptable, they should have a rethink,” he said.

    Recently, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) revealed plans by government to implement Section 44 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, ETC) Act of 2015 (PDF).

    Section 44 of the act highlights the establishment of the National Cyber Security Fund, which is to be funded by 0.005 per cent levy charged on all electronic transactions and to be domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The ATCON National President, Mr Olusola Teniola, revealed that the apex bank notified the association to be ready for the collection of the 0.005 per cent levy to finance the fund.

    Teniola claimed the levy would not only affect telecom operators and Internet Service Providers, but firms in the financial industry would also feel the impact.

     

  • Telecom operators give reasons for network interruption

    Telecom operators on Saturday blamed intermittent interruptions on network on vandalism of base stations, destruction of optic fibre, high forex and shutting of base stations by government agencies.

    The President of Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Olusola Teniola, made the attribution in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

    “There is a situation in the industry whereby the equipment to bring into the country to increase capacity is either delayed by government, or at the port, we are not given the right payment in time.

    “Secondly, forex is high but the equipment price has not reduced, making it very difficult to sustain investment in increasing our network coverage and capacity.

    ”Vandalism, theft and sabotage of our base stations’ equipment, and base stations being shut down by different agencies demanding one tax after another do not help operators.

    “We have incidents of optic fibre destruction, which impacts on traffic to be carried to and from one location or city to another.

    “”There is need for security operatives to ensure that telecommunications equipment which is a critical national infrastructure is protected,” the ATCON president said.

    He urged that the the Federal Government should ease burden on service providers by expediting action on issuance of relevant right of way permits for operators.

    According to Teniola, if all the issues affecting operators are resolved, quality of service will improve.

    The ATCON president said that interruption during festive periods resulted from heavy traffic associated with such periods.

    He said that some operators still used equipment bought 10 years ago, calling on the government to encourage the operators by investing in telecom equipment.

    “During festive period it seems that intermittent interruption is more because most of the calls are originating from Lagos to people that are living in the villages, and the network capacity is not strong.

    “There has not been any form of investment in equipment that will carter for additional traffic on the network since the past 10 years, and this is not good for the industry.

    “We need government to encourage us to bring in the needed equipment by investing in them and making forex available for operators,” he said.

     

  • Association plans special documentation of 100 ICT companies

    The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) says it is putting in place special documentation of 100 leading ICT companies and personalities in the sector.

    According to the association, the compendium will shape the future of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the country.

    The President of ATCON, Mr Olusola Teniola made this known at a news briefing on the ”Special Report on Telecom and ICT Personalities 2018” on Monday in Lagos.

    Teniola said ATCON would determine the future of ICT and the telecommunications industry in Nigeria by putting in place special documentation of 100 leading ICT companies and personalities in the sector.

    He said that the strategic idea to publish 100 highly respectable personalities was solely conceived to celebrate individuals and corporate organisations that had contributed to innovation and creativity in the industry through their personal and corporate efforts.

    According to him, it is believed that the publication of the book will further encourage and inspire ATCON to continue to intensify its advocacy drive in the Nigerian telecommunications and ICT ecosystem.

    ”It is believed that the publication will further continuous protection of the existing investment with the sole aim of attracting further investment into the sector.

    ”The proposed book is expect to chronicle all that these individuals and corporate organisations have done to grow the industry to where it is today and what they still plan to do in order to speed up the needed future development.

    ”The book will give the incoming generation the opportunity to learn from the veterans in the telecommunications industry; as well as to determine the future of ICT in Nigeria as barriers to creativities and innovation in Nigeria would exhaustively be discussed,” he said.

    Teniola said that the association had taken cognisance of some of the players in the industry that had led innovation and creativity in the sector.

    He said that their respective creativities had continued to attract both local and international attention in terms of investible funds.

    According to him, the book is expected to chronicle the development that has taken place since the liberalisation of the sector.

    ”The book is expected to be distributed through the embassies; universities, federal and state government agencies, public and private libraries, telecommunications and ICT international events, media houses, among others.

    ”We hope this project will attract huge participation because there is no better way to celebrate than to put in a book format what they have done to grow the entire telecom and ICT ecosystem.

    ”We have noted that those who fought for the pre-liberalisation of this sector; no book was written in their honour, and in order not to make the same mistake, ATCON has taken it upon itself to catalogue those who are leading innovation in the industry,” he said.

    The ATCON president said that a committee had been set up to publish the book and it was expected to be unveiled by the end of May 2018.

    He said that the book was in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of ATCON.

     

  • Why NCC is dedicating 2018 as year for Improve Quality of Service

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerians Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, says the Commission will dedicate 2018 as a year for Improve Quality of Service.

    Prof. Danbatta dropped the hint while declaring open the USPF, GSMA Operators, and Stakeholders Universal Access Roundtable held on Monday in Abuja.

    He said the decision was reached after recording a successful outing in 2017, which is dedicated to ‘The Consumer’.

    To achieve this, he said the Commission had put measures in place to address the infrastructure deficit in the system, provide more spectrum and address the challenge of Right of Way (RoW).

    ‘‘NCC intends to declare 2018 as the year we hope to improve quality of service. After the success we have recorded by dedicating 2017 to the Consumer, we are poised to declare 2018 for improved quality of service in the country.

    ‘‘We cannot do this without addressing deficit in infrastructure, without providing more spectrum, without talking about RoW and without containing the challenge of the use of unregistered Sim cards that are now in circulation which is bringing additional burden on the networks.

    ‘‘There are a whole lots of issues we hope the campaign can achieve in the same way and manner dedicating 2017 as a year of Consumer has achieved result.

    ‘‘In 2018, we will see quality of service improve and we are coming out with programmes that will be geared towards improving Quality of service in the year to come.’’

    The round table, the first of its kind, was aimed at strengthening the synergy between Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and operators in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.

    It was also aimed to facilitate attainment of the objectives of the Universal Access System in Nigeria, which are to promote greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria and contribute to national economic, social and cultural development of Nigeria.

    The EVC said past efforts by the Commission to overcome the challenges of access and inclusion in universal access had witnessed some results but a lot in the rural areas is still left unattained to.

    Danbatta, who lamented about scarcity of funding in service provision said there were a lot of access gaps in the country mainly in the rural areas, the unserved as well as underserved areas.

    ‘‘So far, we have managed to reduce the number from 207 to 97 and we have clusters of these gaps, we know where they are. But the funding needed to bridge these gaps is becoming a huge challenge, not to NCC alone but to operators.

    ‘‘It therefore requires all sectors, government and stakeholders, while NCC should provide the interventions. The operators should also join so that we have a holistic approach in place to really get rid of this access gaps.

    ‘‘We have close to 40 million Nigerians that have no access to telecommunication access because of these gaps.

    ‘‘Meeting Governors and prevailing on them to relax the legislations on Right of Way is very important but equally, funding is needed to ensure within the shortest possible time, that access gaps are addressed.

    ‘‘Without doing this, the very essence of establishing USPF will be defeated because, it says ensuring equitable ICT services to all corners of the country as well as ensuring inclusion in the provision of services,’’ he added.

    The EVC emphasised collocation for operators, said the adoption makes economic sense for operators to save cost and improve quality of service.

    ‘‘I think the regulatory framework must be very clear. There should be collocation. The whole idea is to ensure operators collocate in shared services and therefore spend less than spending huge sum of money to provide services.

    ‘‘It makes a lot of economic sense to collocate, it does not make any sense for operators to resist collocation because it was in the first place in order to make life better for them improve infrastructure and improve quality of service.’’

    To increase the current active mobile broadband subscription in the country, he said the commission had set a new target per 100 from 20.95 to 50 percent in 2020, which is similar to the 30% for Nigerians National Broadband Plan (2013-2018) vision for Nigeria.

    In his own address, Senior Director, Policy Engagement, Government and Regulatory Affairs at GSMA, Fraser Graham, said the roundtable was a product of long discussions with the NCC’s management and some members of the organization.

    He said there is no one solution to addressing access gap but requires critical look into the demand and supply side of the coin through digital training and awareness, especially in the developing countries.

    ‘‘We have discussed with the EVC last year and some of our members about the operation of the USPF, how it was working and some suggestion on how it can be improved.

    ‘‘We decided that the best way will be for the whole of the stakeholders to be in the same room discuss positions and see how we can improve the universal access coverage.

    ‘‘There is no one solution to the challenges, but GSMS research has identified scenarios that can be looked at. You need to look at the supply side, how can we improve technology, how can we can improve services and make them more efficient.

    ‘‘On the demand side, focus should be how can we increase demand services, digital literacy and training children at early age, top be able to use digital technology and smart phones and increase demand for e-Government services as well as digital illiteracy. Develop local content in local language and in ways that are relevant to them and viable for commercial operators.’’

    In his remarks, a former President of ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi said the roundtable was important and was coming at the right time.

    He said the operators before now never care about collaboration with the USPF but with this roundtable, the collaboration was going to make huge impact in bridging access gaps.

    ‘‘That will certainly excite them a bout the activities of USPF, and I think it is a good development and going to make a big impact in the operation of the operators and USPF.’’

    Stakeholders present at the roundtable include: representatives of MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile and Main One Cable among others.