By Emma Okonji
Worried about the national security implications of incessant closure of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) sites, otherwise known as Base Stations, belonging to telecommunications operators, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has said that the decision it took to reopen all closed sites, was in the interest of national security of the country.
The office made the clarification recently, while responding to matters of national security.
The National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retired), had last month, precisely December 8, 2016, wrote to all the state governors and copied all chief executive officers of telecommunications companies in the country, expressing his worries over the continued closure of base stations across the country by government agencies, and warned that such action could threaten national security, if left unchecked.
The state agencies involved in site closure, demand so much money from telecoms operators, and when there is any delay in payment, they will quickly seal up telecoms sites.
In the letter, Monguno directed the state governors to immediately direct the agencies involved to quickly reopen already sealed BTS sites and to desist from further closure of the sites for whatever reasons.
Part of the letter read: The attention of the Office of the National Security Adviser has been drawn to the act of sealing up of BTS, offices and service centres belonging to call service providers across some states. This action is said to be due to failure of the call service providers to pay various tax related fees to the States’ Boards of Internal Revenue, Ministries of Commerce and Industries and Ministries of Physical Planning and Urban Development, among others. In view of the fact that telecommunications infrastructure are critical national assets, sealing them up could have negative implications on national security. To this end, your excellency is respectfully requested to consider re-opening any sealed BTS within the state and further direct various revenue generation outfits to desist from such acts. I wish to further request that you explore other means of resolving similar issues amicably in the future, in the interest of national security.
Telecommunications operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), had severally written to state governments where they operate to find ways of removing multiple taxes imposed by state revenue collectors, but state governments has refused to honour such letters because they felt it is statutory to do so, since the telecommunication operators are benefiting from the road infrastructure provided by the state governments.
The refusal of the states to remove all manners of taxes levied on the operators, prompted ALTON to write to the National Assembly last year, asking the law makers to pass a bill, seeking to make telecoms facilities as ‘National Critical Infrastructure’ that must be protected by law.
The bill has passed the first reading and it is currently receiving attention at the National Assembly.
Pleased by the action of the National Security Adviser over the letter he wrote to all state governments over closure of BTS sites, ALTON said the states have started to comply with the directive, and that all BTS sites that were hitherto shutdown, have been reopened.
Speaking on the implication of BTS sites closure, the Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo said the action had led to poor service quality and that in most cases, subscriber were completely disconnected and they became incommunicado. According to Adebayo, once a particular BTS is shut down, it affects several sites connected to it, thus creating network congestion on the remaining sites. He said the challenges faced by telecoms operators, mainly come from sealed sites.
“We are law abiding and we pay all necessary taxes, but what we are against is the situation where government agencies still impose more taxes on us and go ahead to stop expansion work at sites, whenever such additional taxes were not paid. Government should realise that when telecoms activities are encouraged to grow in their states, the states will make more money in diverse ways. There is therefore the need for state governments to allow unhindered development of telecoms network expansion in their states,” Adebayo said.
