TheNewsGuru

Tag: Broadband Penetration

  • Inability to achieve 30% broadband penetration in Nigeria raises concern

    Nigerian Communication Satellite Ltd. (NIGCOMSAT) has expressed concern over inability to achieve its earlier intended 30 per cent broadband penetration to ease internet access in the country.

    Mr Muhammad Jiya, the satellite company’s Senior Manager in the Department of Innovation and Development, expressed the concern on Thursday in an interview in Abuja.

    It would be recalled that the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu in 2016 said that the country would achieve 30 per cent national broadband penetration by the end of 2018 as projected in the country’s National Broadband Plan.

    Shittu then said that the country had so far achieved between 18 to 20 per cent penetration as a result of private sector initiatives.

    Jiya identified that internet accessibility and connectivity was a huge challenge to many citizens, especially in remote areas.

    According to him, the higher broadband will ensure that those remote areas without access can be reached.

    He added that “not being able to achieve the 30 per cent broadband penetration is a source of concern to us because we need data for the economy and what drives data is connectivity.

    “If we cannot achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration, it is a big challenge but we at least need to get closer to that.

    “If we cannot move closer to that, we hope that government will put more emphasis in ensuring that we go beyond the 30 per cent, which will help us a great deal.”

    However, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) saddled with working toward the attainment of the broadband in November said the country could not achieve the 30 per cent broadband.

    The NCC said that the country’s broadband penetration was presently 23 per cent and was stalled with high Right of Way (RoW) charges and multiple taxation from some institutions and state governments, among other challenges.

     

  • Why Nigeria may not achieve 30% broadband penetration in 2018

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the country may not achieve the 30 per cent broadband penetration target by the end of 2018, due to some challenges.

    The Head, Technical Standard and Network Integrity, Mr Bako Wakil said this during the ”Broadband Engagement Forum” in Lagos.

    Wakil, who is also the Alternate Chairman, Broadband Implementation and Monitoring Committee, said that the challenges militating against 30 per cent broadband penetration include high Right of Way (RoW) charges and multiple taxation.

    He cited other challenges as multiple regulation and delays in obtaining site acquisition permits.

    Wakil said that in spite of the challenges, the commission was still determined in its pursuit of the target, as the country had achieved 22 per cent broadband penetration.

    According to him, the National Broadband Plan (NBP) provides the roadmap and timelines to deliver a five-fold increase in broadband penetration, that is, from six per cent in 2013 to 30 per cent in 2018.

    ”Execution of the plan is to provide available, accessible and affordable broadband services to all citizens.

    ”The plan is to transform the Nigerian economy to a digital knowledge-based economy for national development,” he said.

    Wakil said that the commission had engaged the National Executive Council (NEC) and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), proffering solutions to the challenges.

    He said that some governors were charging as high as N5,000 per linear metre for RoW, some charge N500, while the federal government charged N145.

    According to him, broadband infrastructure is critical for the socio-economic transformation of the country.

    ”In order to address the deficiency of infrastructure, the commission has licensed six of the seven Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to deploy broadband infrastructure across the country.

    ”In order to succeed, we urge you – State Executives – to consider our recommendations and mitigate the various challenges plaguing the effective penetration of broadband in the country.

    ”There is the need to harmonise Right of Way charges on state government highways with the federal at the cost of N145 per metre.

    ”State governments should assign single point for approving RoW application and limit the approval process to a maximum of 30 working days.

    ”States should mandate installation of utility ducts on road shoulders and buildings during construction and rehabilitation,” he said.

    Wakil called on the governors to stop multiple taxation and eliminate multiple regulation, so as to boost broadband penetration.

    Mr Tony Ikemefuna, Head, Fixed Networks and Converged Services, NCC said that broadband in the Nigerian context was an internet experience where the user could access the most demanding content in real time at a minimum speed of 1.5 Megabit per second (Mbps).

    According to Ikemefuna, broadband is an enabler of economy and the cornerstone of national competitiveness.

    He said that statistics had shown that 10 per cent broadband penetration would lead to 1.3 per cent increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country.

    The Head, Regulatory Services, Mainone, Mr Ifeloju Alakija, said that the InfraCos were to bridge the fibre broadband infrastructure gap and accelerate Fourth Generation (4G) services in the country.

    Alakija said that in 2015, Bitflux, MainOne and IHS were licensed through an open bid to build open access fiber within their zones.

    ”Three years later, the impact of the National Broadband plan is yet to be felt as the licensed InfraCos have not been granted approval to start work,” he said.

     

  • Vandalism compromises FG’s efforts toward 30% broadband penetration – NCC

    Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned against vandalism of telecommunication infrastructure, stressing that the act is compromising Federal Government’s efforts toward achieving 30 per cent broadband penetration in 2018.

    Miss Helen Obi, the commission’s Head of Zonal Operations in Niger, said this at a one-day sensitisation programme on “Protection of Telecommunication Infrastructure” on Thursday.

    According to her, telecom infrastructure serve all citizens and should be owned collectively and everyone should work against its vandalism so that it can serve the purpose for which it is meant.

    She said “we are here to sensitise the people as stakeholders not only as consumers, including local governments and agencies of Federal Government on the need to protect telecom infrastructure.

    “This is actually key to the 8-point agenda of the NCC Chief Executive, Prof. Umar Danbatta, to ensuring quality service and broadband penetration.

    “This is because tampering with these infrastructure compromises the efforts of government to meet the 30 per cent broadband penetration target for 2018.”

    She said that so far, NCC had achieved 22 per cent broadband penetration and hoped to reach 30 per cent target.

    Dr Lawal Bello of the Department of Technical Standards and Network Integrity (TSNI) of the commission, said that the industry had continued to lose huge sums of money as a result of vandalism of telecom infrastructure.

    He said that the spate of destruction of telecom infrastructure across the country had slowed down the growth of services.

    Bello outlined some of the challenges facing the sector as willful damage of telecom infrastructure to extort money from service providers, and local communities or individuals barring technical staff of service providers from installing equipment or carrying out repair on existing systems.

    He added that diesel theft and digging up of cables for sale were also among the problems.

    The TSNI official said that NCC had been using various avenues such as the Consumer Outreach Programme, the Telecom Consumer Parliament to sensitise people and to educate them about the dangers associated with vandalism of such infrastructure.

    He called for speedy passing of the bill of Telecom Infrastructure and the need to declare it a national asset.

    Bello added that the protection of telecom infrastructure was not only NCC’s responsibility or that of security agencies, but of all patriotic citizens.

    Mr Abubakar Salisu, the Permanent Secretary, Human Resources, Office of the Head of Service in Niger, urged the commission to give incentives to states that have less cases of vandalism.

    According to him, incentives will encourage states to do more and make others to follow.

    NCC statistics shows that Niger has the least occurrence of telecommunication infrastructure vandalism.

    During the sensitisation programme, telecom users were given opportunity to ask questions and lay their complains, which the commission pledged to look into.

    In attendance were security agencies, community members and telecom operators and associations.

     

  • 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.

     

  • NCC steps to actualise broadband penetration target proactive

    The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) says Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC)’s licensing of more infrastructure companies (InfraCos) is a proactive step toward achieving the 30 per cent broadband penetration target.

    The National President of NATCOMS, Mr Adeola Ogunbanjo, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Wednesday.

    NAN reports that Nigeria developed a five-year strategy (2013-2018) in 2013, through the Presidential Committee on Broadband.

    The aim is to drive internet and broadband penetration in the country and to scale up NCC’s broadband growth by 30 per cent in 2018.

    According to him, we have only four months to go, and actually, the target cannot be met and that is what is worrying the NCC, which is leading to the licensing of more InfraCos.

    “Honestly, NCC is taking a good step in the right direction by ensuring licensing of more InfraCos, because it will lead to more expectations and more robust broadband penetration.

    “There is also the need for private sector’s participation to help government to achieve this target,” Ogunbanjo said.

    He decried many obstacles hindering the actualisation of the broadband’s target such as the Right Of Way (ROW), many taxes and levies, saying that they should be looked into.

    Ogunbanjo said that as regards some of the hinderances to broadband penetration like ROW and also security of base stations, it behooves on the executives, State and Federal Governments to do their parts.

    He urged some state governors to emulate the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to reduce their charges the right of ways.

    “For broadband penetration that will ensure better and standard network, all hands must be on deck.

    “The number charges and multiple taxes on telecommunications operators and the environment that is tightened, not conducive at all, do not allow them to operate fairly.

    “State Governments are not making the telecommunications industry user-friendly at all with their policies and taxes; they should look at how to make the industry work considering their contributions to the Gross Domestic Products.

    “Aside from petroleum, the agriculture and telecommunications industry should be the main focus to build the nation’s economy.

    “Currently, the Gross Domestic Products is a double digit one that the telecommunications industry is contributing, so it should be given the adequate attention it deserves,” Ogunbanjo said.

     

  • Nigeria reaches broadband penetration target

    The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, said that Nigeria’s broadband penetration, according to the ITU/UNESCO policy forum, is currently at 22%, indicating that the minimum target to reach 20% by 2017 was met.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the EVC, at a session with journalists recently, explained that the minimum and maximum targets set were 20% and 30% respectively.

    Professor Danbatta further stated that the International Telecommunications Union/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization policy forum would release the latest broadband penetration figures by September 2018.

    “Nigeria’s broadband penetration was between 4 to 6% in 2013 when the target was set and the NCC has since, licensed infrastructure companies (Infracos) to deploy fibre network in various regions of the country.

    “There is an initiative under the office of the Vice President, but being driven by some licensees of the NCC to deploy 18000km of fibre infrastructure.

    “The whole idea is to add 18,000km of fibre in addition to the 38,000km of fibre that we have already on the ground, to make it 56,000km,” he said.

    He also stated that a subsidy of around Three Billion Naira (N3b) had been budgeted to be paid piecemeal to the infrastructure companies to deploy the fibre, stressing “This payment will be predicated on milestones by the licensees”.

    The challenges to broadband penetration in Nigeria include multiple taxation and Right of Way issues, most of which the NCC is working very hard to address.

    The Commission has had very fruitful talks with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) in this regard, Danbatta stated.

    The EVC also reiterated NCC’s commitment to stopping illegal call masking operations in Nigeria.

    “We have discovered that call masking is being perpetrated with small movable devices called SIM boxes and we are in the process of choosing the best from a list of technology solutions used in other countries, to block the devices, track and apprehend the culprits”, he said.

     

  • Nigeria to host investment forum in South Korea

    Nigeria to host investment forum in South Korea

    Plans for Nigeria to host an investment forum at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference that will hold later in the year in South Korea are in the offing.

    This was made known by a spokesman of Nigeria’s telecoms regulatory commission in a statement today, saying broadband Nigeria will be the focus of discussions at the investment forum.

    “Nigeria will host an investment forum at ITU Telecom World 2017 and Broadband Nigeria will be at the focus of discussions.

    “The participation of Nigeria at the yearly International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference will focus on deepening the growing broadband segment of the market in the country,” the spokesman said.

    The ITU Telecom World 2017 is a global platform for major industry players, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Countries and Organisations to network and share ideas about new developments and technologies that would lead to better connected societies.

    It is an event for International visibility of innovative Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Products/Services and solutions from around the World.

    In general terms, it involves high level debates on the core issues affecting ICT industry, sharing knowledge and working for sustainable development.

    The event is due to hold in Busan, South Korea, from September 25 – 28, 2017.

    According to the statement signed by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, Nigeria’s high level delegation to the ITU conference will be led by the Minister of Communications, Barrister Abdulraheem Adebayo Shittu.

    Nigeria’s Chief Telecoms Regulator and Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, industry stakeholders and operators will be on the delegation.

    Although Nigeria has had a very robust telecommunications sector with active connected subscribers in the region of 150 million and about 110 percent teledensity, the NCC believes that more efforts should be deployed to deepen broadband penetration in the country.

    By the National Broadband Plan (NBP), the country is expected to attain 30% broadband penetration by 2018, which currently stands at 21%.

    Given that 2018 is around the corner, with the conference, the Ministry of Communications, and its driving force, the NCC, hope to bring back investment to Nigeria that will steer the achievement of the 30% broadband penetration in the country.

     

  • Nigeria to rake in $4.4b Internet access revenue

    PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has projected that Internet access revenues in Nigeria will rise by a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.2% to reach $4.4 billion in 2021.

    This is contained in PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2017-2021 report.

    The report disclosed that mobile Internet revenues will increase by a CAGR of 16.8 per cent amounting to $4.3 billion, accounting for 96.6% of total Internet access revenues in the time frame under review.

    According to the PwC report, while Nigeria will be the world’s fastest-growing Entertainment & Media (E&M) market over period under review, the slowest-growing will be Japan, growing at a 1.7% CAGR.

    Consumers in mature markets such as North America, and Europe, and wealthier Asia-Pacific markets spend a lot more than $500 per capita annually on entertainment and media; growth rates are relatively slow in these areas.

    In contrast, less developed economies feature much lower per capita spending and faster growth albeit from a very low base less than $50 a year in many cases.

    The Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2017-2021 document also revealed that mobile Internet subscriptions will increase to 85.1 million over the forecast period, a penetration rate of 40.1 per cent. The penetration of mobile Internet connections on high-speed services will rise by 29.6 percentage points to nearly 35 per cent in 2021.

    Fixed broadband is not widely available and where it is, the cost is often prohibitive. The majority of subscriptions are via fixed-wireless networks, with LTE-based services replacing WiMAX as the leading fixed-wireless technology. Fixed broadband penetration is very low and will rise from 2.2 per cent in 2016 to 3.3 per cent in 2021 with 89.3 per cent of subscriptions on low-speed services at the end of 2021.

    Recall that in September 2016, and recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced it would begin a process to select 5 infrastructure companies (infracos) to build and operate open-access fibre broadband networks in five zones.

    This process, the telecoms regulator says will begin in July; and the project will be funded by government subsidies.

    The first two concessions for Lagos State (MainOne) and the North Central Zone (IConnect, a subsidiary of IHS) were awarded in January 2015. The new 5 infracos to be licensed would be for the North-East, North-West, South-South, South-East and South-West zones of the country.

    The NCC first published a consultation paper on the open-access network in November 2013.

     

  • Broadband: ICT stakeholders call for National Fibre provider

    Broadband: ICT stakeholders call for National Fibre provider

    Stakeholders in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector have called for a National Broadband Fibre provider to further deepen broadband penetration in the country.

    The stakeholders made the call at the Broadband Summit 2017 organized by BusinessDay Media Ltd in Lagos on Friday.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Spectranet, Mr David Venn said that there was the need for the National Broadband Fibre provider so that Nigerians would benefit from the broadband revolution.

    Venn said that voice calls through mobile phone had changed everything but the next phase was broadband.

    He said that broadband would have greater impact on the lives of Nigerians, hence the need to ensure it got to every part of the country.

    According to him, the challenges hindering broadband penetration should be addressed.

    “Nigeria needs a National Broadband Fibre provider. There is need for carriers to be able to get broadband to the hinterlands.

    “The cost of international bandwidth has changed demand for broadband in the last two years.

    “The Nigerian Communications Commission must sanitise the sector of anti-competitive issues,” he said.

    The Managing Director of Vodacom Business Nigeria, Mr Lanre Kolade said that the economy was biting hard on all the operators.

    Kolade said that the Tier II Telecommunications operators were struggling to survive.

    He said that there was need for a level playing field as such would stop anti-competition in the sector.

    According to him, the Tier I operators cannot be everywhere hence, the need for the smaller operators to go to the smaller areas and deploy business strategies that will work.

    “For this to happen, anti-competition should be addressed.

    “To deepen broadband penetration, there should be data centres across the country so that the rate at which our traffic goes outside Nigeria will reduce,” he said.

    The Chief Transformation Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Bayo Adekanmbi, said that there was high demand of broadband by Nigerians; but no adequate infrastructure to deliver high speed internet to them.

    Adekanmbi said that the nature of broadband was holistically different as it was more of a long term project as the issue of cost was critical.

    He said that infrastructure to deliver broadband should not be taxed; to ensure delivery to last mile at an affordable cost.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Ntel, Mr Kamar Abass said that to deepen broadband penetration, the industry should consider infrastructure sharing as active engagement on it was still lacking.

    Abass said that there was the need for more spectrums to deliver broadband to Nigeria.

    The Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Ms Funke Opeke said that broadband was an enabler of economic growth.

    Opeke however said that recession had changed the dynamics of the broadband industry.

    She said that the industry depended on importation of its infrastructure and there had been the challenge of foreign exchange.

    According to her, the country must pull itself out of oil dependency and broadband is the step toward economy recovery.

    “There is need to know we can create more power houses like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba, among other to develop the economy,” she said.

     

  • NCC laments telecoms poor quality of service, promises improvement

    NCC laments telecoms poor quality of service, promises improvement

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has promised Nigerian telecoms consumer improved telecommunications services while lamenting the deterioration of Quality of Service (QoS) in the first quarter of the year 2017.

    “We have seen a deterioration of quality of service across all operators,” NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, noted at a Special Media Interaction held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja Lagos yesterday.

    ImageFile: NCC laments telecoms poor quality of service, promises improvement
    NCC EVC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta assures of improved QoS

    TheNewsGuru recalls the Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu had in January, while inaugurating the board of the NCC, charged the Commission to deliver on QoS. Consequently, the NCC dedicated the year 2017 to the protection of the Nigerian telecom consumer

    “I can be able to state here categorically in terms of QoS that I know which operators are doing well, fairly well and those that are not doing well at all,” the EVC NCC said, adding: “But, we are waiting for the analysis of the QoS key performance index (KPI)”.

    “The industry average for call drop rate is 1.37 percent while it is supposed to be 1 percent. The call success rate is 90 percent, 8 percentage short of the specified standard,” the EVC further stated.

    He said, “We intend to escalate the issue to the next level. When we engage the consultants maybe this month, we intend to showcase that QoS has improved slightly with evidence because we have the figures but the QoS is still below the standard set up by the NCC. If we do not see any improvement, then, we can resolve to sanctions”.

    “We may not reach the stipulated standard in a month or two but the compliance streak is to further compel telecoms operators to improve on QoS,” he added.

    The NCC, however, noted that challenges of broadband penetration in Nigeria need be surmounted before a total QoS can be guaranteed.

    He outlined the major challenges facing broadband penetration in Nigeria to include right of way, vandalization of telecoms infrastructure, power supply and foreign exchange.

    He however noted that arrangements are underway to making foreign exchange available for telecoms operators.