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Tag: Broadband

  • 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.

     

  • Ericsson launches critical communications broadband portfolio

    Ericsson on Thursday said it had launched a critical communications broadband portfolio for the benefit of service providers.

    Per Narvinger, Head of Product Area Networks, Ericsson, said that this would enable service providers to meet the business and mission-critical needs of industries and public safety agencies.

    According to him, Ericsson has developed a new portfolio comprising three offerings: Critical Network Capabilities; Critical Broadband Applications; and Flexible Deployments for both local private networks, and nationwide mission-critical LTE networks.

    “When communication is disrupted by minutes, seconds, or even milliseconds, it can have huge consequences for business operations or serious implications for public safety.

    “Hence the need for fast and reliable communication is therefore paramount.

    “Such critical communications are used in many areas: from first responders and nationwide emergency services to workforce safety in enterprises.

    “There is a growing demand for business-and mission-critical broadband for such cases, service providers need to deliver the highest level of availability, reliability and security to meet this demand, ’’ Narvinger said in a statement.

    He also noted that “the company sees growth opportunities for service providers and government operators by addressing new segments with LTE/5G networks’’.

    Narvinger said that the critical broadband portfolio would enable customers to effectively secure the critical communication needs of sectors such as public safety, energy and utilities, transportation, and manufacturing.

     

  • 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.

     

  • Nigeria braces for next level of tech revolution

    Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta has stressed the need for collaboration among academia, telecom industry players and the regulatory body as the nation gears up for the next level of technology revolution.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Prof. Danbatta was speaking during NCC’s Fifth Roundtable Forum with Academia, Telecom Industry and other Stakeholders when he said, “the emergence of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Cities, 5th generation network (5G), Broadband technology have led to huge opportunities and consequent risks”.

    The forum, holding in Minna, Niger State on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th January 2018 is expected to improve collaboration among the Commission, academia, telecom industry players and other stakeholders to accelerate innovation, industrial growth and sustainable development in the Nigerian telecoms industry.

    Danbatta at the forum on Wednesday said the collaboration is needed to ensure that these technologies are adequately prepared for by the time they emerge in the Nigeria’s telecom ecosystem.

    He acknowledged that innovations, inventions and improvements that evolve from collaboration with academia are a catalyst for improving efficiency and productivity, driving economic growth and attracting more FDI into the country.

    Speaking at the event, Danbatta, represented by Engr Austin Nwaulune, Director Spectrum Administration, NCC, said, to this end, the NCC as regulator of this critical sector, aims to ensure all stakeholders are protected and the industry is nurtured for maximum benefits to all players in the industry.

    He stressed that regulatory excellence has the capacity to drive social and economic transformation in the country and, that the NCC seeks to ensure that regulations match with existing realities.

    Prof Danbatta reiterated that the three areas which are fundamental to future growth and development of the sector include: innovation in terms of new ideas, industry growth in terms of building capabilities and the role of the regulator in promoting synergy between the academia and the NCC while ensuring regulatory excellence and operational efficiency of the industry.

    “The potential opportunities and important aspects that should be considered by all stakeholders are critical aspects that academia are invited to research and proffer pragmatic solutions.

    “The Commission has, among other things, directed funds to encourage innovation by boosting research and development in Universities across the country.

    “There is need to collaborate with emphasis on development of prototypes that would meet the standards required by the industry,” he said.

    Present at the event include members of the academia from various universities and Polytechnics in the North Central region of the country, representatives of telecom companies and other regulatory bodies.

     

  • Nigeria to access $100m Indian loan to develop nationwide broadband connectivity

    Nigeria to access $100m Indian loan to develop nationwide broadband connectivity

    The Federal Government says it is working with the Indian Government to access 100 million dollars concessional loan to develop the country’s rural broadband connectivity.

    The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu said this in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day held in Abuja on Thursday night.

    Shittu said that the loan to be accessed would be part of India’s 10 billion-dollar concessional loans to African countries for the implementation of projects of their national priority.

    The minister said that the rural broadband connectivity in India “inspired” his application for the 100 million dollar-loan for the project.

    “Nigeria must be prepared to take advantage of the available opportunities, one of which is in securing of credit line for the development of rural backbone infrastructure.

    “In India, as expansive as the country is, every area has sufficient broadband connectivity; everybody has access to online connectivity.

    “This is the opposite in Nigeria. We have barely exceeded the 30 per cent connectivity rate.

    “However, with this initiative, I believe within the next two months, we will have the opportunity of getting a credit line of 100 million dollars from India to develop rural infrastructure.

    “Such that without electricity, telecoms masts can function, as masts to be constructed via the credit line funding will be renewable based – that is solar-based.’’

    He explained that Indian companies would be the installers of the equipment “because it is their technology that we will use the credit line to acquire”.

    Shittu, however, said the timeline for the implementation of the project was yet to be determined.

    He added that repayment of the loan would be “ironed out” by the Ministries of Finance and Budget and National Planning.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 100 million dollars was made available to Nigeria in 2017 execute projects in the power sector including solar energy and rural electrification in three states: Kaduna, Cross River and Enugu.

    In his response, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Abhay Thakur told newsmen that the high commission had received a written project report from Nigeria and would examine it.

    “We (Nigeria and India) are working very closely on the rural broadband network project.

    “India is deeply interested because we genuinely have a lot of expertise in the area of broadband network building and reach to the Indian masses.

    “We will examine the written report, and I am sure very soon, we will be in a position to tender out the project under the India Development Assistance, which is a very attractive soft loan funding for Nigeria.”

    Thakur also said the pilot phase of the project if considered, would start in Oyo and would be replicated in the other 36 states.

    He expressed optimism that the project would lead to other spin-off projects in the areas of IT trainings and e-governance to rural populations.

    “This is something India has achieved, and hopes to cooperate on with Nigeria with the support of the Nigerian government.”

    Speaking on the ITEC Day, the high commissioner said that 315 training slots in the ITEC short-term programme had been made available for Nigeria in 2019.

    He explained that this included 100 training slots under the India Africa Forum Summit and 20 scholarships for undergraduate, post-graduate and higher courses.

    He said the high commission also covered Benin, Cameroon and Chad in addition to Nigeria.

    “This year, we are offering 50 ITEC slots and five degree scholarships to Benin, 63 ITEC slots and eight degree scholarships to Cameroon, 20 ITEC slots and eight degree scholarships to Chad, and five ITEC slots to ECOWAS.

    “We give full details of these slots because we want every opportunity to be utilised, we will like to see 100 per cent utilisation, so we can increase the slots in the next year.

    “We are open to nominations from all Nigerian organisations.”

    NAN recalls that during the third Africa-Indian Forum in 2015, the Indian Government announced 50,000 scholarships for African students in India.

    Since the second forum in 2011, more than 24,000 scholarships across 300 training courses conducted at 60 training institutions in India were utilised by African nationals in diverse areas.

    The ITEC programme instituted in September 1964 is a flagship programme of the Indian government’s capacity building efforts.

    ITEC Day has also been observed every year on Sept. 15 or during the course of the year.

  • TNG year in review: How Nigeria achieved 2013-2018 broadband target

    Nigeria, with the aim to drive internet and broadband penetration in the country, developed a five-year strategy, known as the Federal Government National Broadband Plan 2013-2018, through a presidential committee on broadband.

    To drive internet and broadband penetration in the country, the Federal Government National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 aimed to scale up Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) broadband growth by 30 per cent in 2018.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the country in 2018 achieved the five-year strategy broadband penetration target, with broadband penetration standing at 30.9 per cent in November, surpassing the 30 per cent target set by the presidential committee.

    As at September 2017, the country’s broadband penetration was empirically adjudged by global telecom regulator, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as 21 per cent.

    Going forward into 2018, there were concerns in different quarters that the nation might not be able to achieve the target; however, fast forward to November and it is a different story.

    READ | Why Nigeria may not achieve 30% broadband penetration in 2018

    Mr Adeola Ogunbanjo, National President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) said NCC’s licensing of more infrastructure companies (InfraCos) was instrumental in achieving the 30 per cent broadband penetration target.

    The InfraCos licenced by the NCC are Raeanna Nigeria Ltd for South South, O’odua Infraco Resources Ltd for South West (excluding Lagos), Fleek Networks Ltd for North West, Brinks Integrated Solutions for North East, Main One Ltd for Lagos zone and Zinox Technologies Ltd for Southeast.

    According to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, while announcing the broadband penetration achievement in a recent interaction with newsmen in Abuja, the commission knew it has to meet the broadband implementation plan.

    “At NCC, we knew we have to meet the broadband implementation plan to get to 30 per cent at the end of 2018 due to the work done, we now stand at 30.9 per cent equivalent of 31 per cent.

    “NCC had issued license to seven infrastructure companies to deploy the needed infrastructure to facilitate the required penetration in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

    “This will enable penetration reach the served and underserved areas in the country,” Danbatta, ably represented by Mr Sunday Dare, NCC Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management said.

    He said all information and progress on mobile, internet and data usage penetration would be sustained to provide the necessary requirements for increased investments and effective regulation of the telecom sector in Nigeria.

     

  • Broadband deployment: Infraco for North-Central withdraws

    Infrastructure service provider (infraco) licenced for broadband infrastructure provisioning in the North-Central region of Nigeria has withdrawn.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, made this known in Lagos on Friday.

    He made this known during the 2018 4th Quarter Forum of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA) with the theme: Achieving Last-Mile Connectivity Through Affordable Broadband’.

    Danbatta said that the core of robust and reliable telecommunications service was broadband infrastructure, which would provide the needed impetus to achieve last mile connectivity.

    He said that NCC’s commitment to achieve the three ‘A’s of Availability, Accessibility and Affordability was hinged on broadband deployment across the country.

    “Facilitation of Broadband penetration is the number one item and flagship of our 8-Point Agenda.

    “The potential in broadband penetration is enormous, which explains why the entire global community is investing huge resources to exploit and assimilate broadband that is expected to guide global economic index of development in the future,” the NCC boss said.

    He said that a major milestone was achieved recently with the licensing of four infracos to provide broadband infrastructure.

    Danbatta said that these companies were licenced for broadband infrastructure provisioning in the different regions of the country.

    According to him, Zinox Technology Ltd is for South-East Zone; Brinks Integrated Solutions Ltd for North-East Zone; O’odua Infraco Resource Ltd. for the South-West; and Raeanna Technologies Ltd. for the South-South.

    “The Commission had earlier licenced two InfraCos for Lagos in the South-West and North-Central regions which are Infrastructure Company Ltd. (a subsidiary of MainOne Cable Company Ltd.) and IHS Ltd. respectively.

    “However, efforts are underway to licence an Infraco for the North-Central, following the withdrawal of the licenced Infraco.

    “The Licencees are to provide fibre optic infrastructure on an Open Access basis for any telecommunications company to link its network and expand to deploy its services,” he said.

    The NCC boss, who also at the NITRA forum said the coverage of Fourth Generation (4G) technology in the country is still low, did not, however, state why the licenced infroco withdrew.

    Represented by Dr Henry Nkemadu, Deputy Director/Head, Special Intervention Projects, NCC, Danbatta said that there had been a tremendous growth and increasing ubiquity of the mobile networks in Nigeria.

    He, however, said that there was still a proportion of the population that were under-served or unserved with universal access to mobile and the internet.

    “Generally, the most pervasive networks are on 2G coverage and reaches about 90 per cent of the population, while the 3G or 4G coverage still low and a section with little or no coverage,’’ the NCC boss said.

    He said that the telecommunications regulatory body had facilitated universal access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services by providing enabling regulatory interventions to stimulate competition among the industry players.

    According to him, there is an appreciable number of submarine cables landing in Nigeria, delivering a capacity of about 9 Terabits capacity to the country.

    “This is mainly limited to landing points in the Lagos areas and some coastal states like Ondo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa.

    “The commission has been making efforts to enable the companies extend this massive capacity inland through various regulatory instruments and interventions to drive down costs and for security reasons.

    “In the meantime, many of the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have islands of cables interconnected in areas of high traffic like Lagos, with multiple fibre cable coverage, leaving other regions with lack of coverage.

    “This poor network planning, therefore, contributes to poor last mile connectivity in Nigeria,’’ he said.

     

  • NCC puts initiatives in place to fast-track internet access

    To facilitate broadband penetration in the country and in a quest to bridge the digital divide, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has put in place initiatives to fast-track internet access in the country.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, while stressing the Commission has taken services to several unserved and underserved areas in the country, stated this while speaking with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said NCC had issued license to seven infrastructure companies to deploy the needed infrastructure to facilitate the required penetration in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the country.

    The InfraCos licenced by the NCC are Raeanna Nigeria Ltd for South South, O’odua Infraco Resources Ltd for South West (excluding Lagos), Fleek Networks Ltd for North West, Brinks Integrated Solutions for North East, Main One Ltd for Lagos zone and Zinox Technologies Ltd for Southeast.

    “While we celebrate the seeming story recorded in these directions, the NCC has put incentive for infrastructure companies (Infracos) in order to encourage speedy deployment of infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration.

    “In line with our initiatives to encourage investors for infracos to roll out, NCC created provisions in its 2017 & 2018 budgets for subsidies to the infracos.

    “The Government through the NCC has launched the open Access Model Broadband Deployment. As a prelude to the above, 2.3GHz was issued to Bitflux Consortium; 6 of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and 2 slots to openskys. Six slots are still available for assignment,” Danbatta stated.

    As regards Quality of Service, the NCC EVC said the Commission had engaged critical stakeholders to resolve multiple taxations, multiple regulations and indiscriminate shutting down of live base stations.

    “To Optimize Usage and Benefits of Spectrum, The commission has introduced spectrum trading. The NCC has also licensed quite a number of internationally harmonized wireless frequencies and encouraged re-farming of various others to improve capacity.

    “To promote ICT innovation and investment opportunities, the NCC approves grants to facilitate research in areas of need within the industry. NCC has also encouraged telecoms operators to embark on corporate social responsibility initiatives that drive local content development.

    “In Facilitating Strategic Collaboration and Partnership, NCC has hosted Stakeholders Consultations on National Roaming, Industry Working group on short code. NCC has also signed MoUs with agencies like NESREA, CPC, NITDA, CBN, Nigeria Police etc

    “To Protect and Empower Consumers, NCC Engages Consumers through various outreach – Consumer Parliament, Consumer Outreach Programme and Consumer Town Hall Meeting. NCC also declared 2017 the year of the Consumer to underscore the importance it attaches to the consumers.

    “In Promoting Fair Competition and Inclusive Growth, Regulation of VAS and its Framework, Determination of cost based pricing for fixed transmission services in Nigeria and Market Dominance Determinations has been done by NCC.

    “To Ensure Regulatory Excellence NCC has intensified Compliance Monitoring exercises, Promotion of Corporate Governance Code,” the NCC boss stated.

    TNG reports NCC had been acknowledged as one of the foremost telecoms regulator in Africa by ITU.

    The Nigerian telecommunication contributed 10.43% to the GDP in the second quarter of 2018.

    Statistics shows that for every 10% increase in broadband penetration, there is corresponding 1.3% increase in GDP of a nation.

    The country recently achieved broadband penetration of 30.9 per cent in November 2018 surpassing the 30 per cent target by the National Broad Band Plan.

     

  • Nigeria achieves 2013-2018 broadband penetration target

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the country’s broadband penetration stood at 30.9 per cent as at November 2018 surpassing the 30 per cent target by the National Broadband Plan.

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC said this while speaking with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

    The Federal Government National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 has set a target of 30 per cent penetration to be achieved by end of 2018.

    Danbatta, represented by Mr Sunday Dare, NCC Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management said that the commission had exceeded the target it set for itself with over nine per cent.

    “At NCC, we knew we have to meet the broadband implementation plan to get to 30 per cent at the end of 2018 due to the work done, we now stand at 30.9 per cent equivalent of 31 per cent.

    “NCC had issued license to seven infrastructure companies to deploy the needed infrastructure to facilitate the required penetration in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

    “This will enable penetration reach the served and underserved areas in the country.

    “Active Voice Subscriber base grew from 165,239,443 in October 2018 to 169,104,830 in November 2018,” he said.

    According to him, total active broadband subscription on 3G and 4G platforms as at November 2018 was 58,965,478.

    He said all information and progress on mobile, internet and data usage penetration would be sustained to provide the necessary requirements for increased investments and effective regulation of the telecom sector in Nigeria.

    The NCC boss said according to the reports between the first and third quarters, released by National Bureau of Statistics contributions of Telecommunications and Information Services to Gross Domestic Products (GDP ) stood at N4.7 trillion.

    On research grants to universities, Danbatta said N50million had been given to some universities for research that would improve ICT and beneficial to the NCC in the near future.

    According to him, NCC had set up a committee to come up with another strategy plan after the successful implementation of the 2015-2018 plans.

    He said the expected plan would ensure the realisation of the eight point agenda of the NCC that is valid up till 2020 and ensure that customer’s satisfaction is ensured.