As 70% broadband penetration target journey begins

President Muhammadu Buhari, last Thursday, commissioned the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)’s Communications & Digital Economy Complex (CDEC) located at the Mbora District of Abuja.
    
The edifice, whose completion and furnishing was implemented under Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, as the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, has been described by stakeholders, who attended the commissioning, as structure that would serve as a coordinating hub for the digital economy activities of the Federal Government.
   
During the commissioning, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new National Broadband Plan (NBP) 2020 -2025 for the country. The unveiling, according to stakeholders, thus, marked the beginning of another race for Nigeria for achievement of more pervasive broadband connectivity across the nooks and crannies of the country.

Other projects flagged off by the President, as part of initiatives lined up during the commissioning, include the NCC’s Emergency Commission Centre (ECC), 18 of which have been implemented in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as the launching of the 112 Emergency Communication Number, which is now very useful to Nigerians to report any emergency incidents at this period of the coronavirus contagion. The President also launched the National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training, an initiative of the supervising Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

Assessing current connectivity 
Meanwhile, of all these projects, the NBP 2020-2025, no doubt, appears to be the one that will put the country on its toes within the next five years, with respect to deepening broadband access to provide more connectivity to more Nigerians.

Today, while Nigeria can boast of about 128 million people on the Internet, it has been largely through narrowband, the GSM technology, given that only 73.4 million Nigerians are currently on 3G and 4G networks. The73.4 million figure is equivalent to 38.9 per cent broadband penetration as of January, 2020.

Driving accelerated broadband
The need for accelerated broadband regime in Nigeria underscored the 8-Point Agenda of Danbatta, under whose auspices, the country deepened broadband penetration from six per cent in 2015 to over 38 per cent currently.

Specifically, under the NCC EVC, Nigeria attained and surpassed the 30 per cent broadband penetration target contained in the expired NBP 2013-2018 set for December 2018. A broadband penetration of 30.9 per cent had been achieved by the country, courtesy NCC’s regulatory activities much earlier – as of November 2018. By December 2018, the country’s broadband penetration has reached over 31 per cent.
  
Hence, it is also expected that the proper and timely execution of the new NBP would fast track Nigeria’s digital economy ambition as being championed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami.
  
It is instructive that during the unveiling of the new NBP, President Buhari had noted that the digital economy will support his fight against corruption through digitisation and enabling government services.
   
He stated that digital technologies have become a useful platform for economic diversification and that “having recognised the benefits of these technologies, we have decided to adopt the digital economy paradigm early.”

What will accelerate plan?
Commending Danbatta on the efforts of the commission in the last few years towards a broadband revolution, Aluko urged the Federal Government to provide needed supports that will guarantee the successful implementation of the new five-year NBP, especially the autonomy of the NCC.
   
“I think if the Commission must succeed with the new plan, NCC must be up and doing. Most importantly, the Commission should be allowed to work without hitches. There should be less interferences from the supervising ministry,” he stressed.  

Protection of facilities, funding and Buhari’s directive
Over the years, lack of adequate protection for telecoms infrastructure has remained the bane of the industry, a development occasioned by persistent cases of vandalism, theft of telecoms equipment at sites and illegal closure of sites, among others. This is where stakeholders have identified a greater role by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Ali Pantami, by focusing on addressing these industry challenges that might encumber NCC’s push for wider broadband availability, accessibility and affordability.
  
According to industry watchers, for the health of the industry to be strengthened, Pantami would need to concentrate on using his ministerial position to tackle vandalism, multiple taxations, Right of Way (RoW) issue and other sundry challenges that can serve a cog in the wheel of progress for the actualisation of the digital economy drive.

ECC and telecoms protection
Meanwhile, the ECC project launched by the President also has a great role to play not only in enhancing security lives but also in protecting critical information gathering that will help in the protection telecoms infrastructure, which is critical to the life of individual’s citizens. For instance, established or suspected cases of vandalism to telecoms infrastructure can be reported to the government through by dialling the 112 National Emergency Number.
The ECC project has had a long history in the Commission but his implementation got a boost in 2015 when Danbatta came on board in order to effectively support the President’s agenda to enhance the security of lives and property in the country.

According to Danbatta, who spoke at the commissioning, for effective emergency response, the communication has established about 18 Emergency Communications Centres (EEC) across the country. The establishment of ECCs across the country was in line with NCC’s mandate under Section 107 of Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, “to promote and enhance public safety through the use of a particular number designed as the universal safety and emergency assistance number for telephone services.”
 
Going further down memory lane, Danbatta said: “In line with this mandate that the Board of the NCC, in 2006, with the endorsement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), commenced the establishment of an Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) in each of the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” Consequently, the NCC allocated the toll-Free three-digit number ‘112’ as the Universal Emergency Communications telephone number in Nigeria.

While Pantami noted at the commissioning that the 112 Number would help people to be able to reach emergency response agencies during this coronavirus crisis, among others, Danbatta added that the ECC will also help people to complain cases of vandalism of any kind or harm to telecoms infrastructure or other government and critical national infrastructure and property to necessary response agency.

Generally, through this number, the public can access help when in distress by dialling 112 from any of the networks at no cost.

This can help distressed persons access help from the police, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Fire and Ambulance Services. Today, there are 18 ECCs scattered across 17 states and the FCT.

Addressing the funding problem in telecoms
While telecoms infrastructure protection is key, funding will be critical. Already, the Opeke-led committee noted that about $5 billion would be required in the next five years to realise the new plan.   

Also amplifying Opeke’s position on funding for telecoms companies, President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, posited that lack of fund to effectively implement all the recommendations in the new NBP is a major concern. He also pointed out the need to coordinate all future infrastructure builds to avoid duplication of efforts and wasted investments.
   
According to Teniola, the broadband plan implementation creates an opportunity for the country to define new areas of development and ultimately fast track the progress of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry as a whole in its contribution to Nigeria’s GDP growth and enabling such technologies as cloud computing, smart Internet of Things (IoT), e-agric, digital financial services and smart cities.