Emma Okonji
Information and communications technology (ICT) stakeholders are worried over the continued delay in the licensing of additional infrastructure companies (InfraCos) by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). They are of the view that licensed InfraCos are supposed to provide the backbone on which licensed telecoms operators are supposed to ride on in offering broadband services across the country. However, they are wondering why the NCC was yet to license additional InfraCos, long after MainOne and IHS were licensed to cover Lagos and North north central respectively.
The Chief Executive Officer of Pinnet Technologies, Mr. Lanre Ajayi told THISDAY that he could not understand why the NCC had to delay the licensing of additional InfraCos, after it had licenced MainOne and IHS since January 2015. Speaking on the delay in licensing additional InfraCos, two years after despite the continued promises of NCC to licence additional InfraCos, Ajayi said the delay is affecting quick rollout of broadband services across the country, since rollout of broadband services largely depends on broadband infrastructure, which InfraCos were supposed to provide.
“The move to license MainOne as InfraCo for Lagos and IHS as InfraCo for North central in 2015 was a welcomed development but industry stakeholders are worried that two years after, NCC is yet to licence additional InfraCos that would provide ubiquitous broadband infrastructure for operators to tap into and provide broadband service for the growing youth population in the country,” Ajayi said. He called on NCC to expedite action in the licensing of additional InfraCos owing to its importance in broadband development and penetration.
Ajayi, who ruled out the issue of lack of interest on the part of would be InfraCos, as the possible reason for the delay, said operators would be ready to operate as InfraCos in the country, since the issue of high forex rate has nothing to do with InfraCos, since the process is not by auctioning, where the highest bidder wins the licence.
President of the Association Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Olusola Teniola, said for Nigeria to realise the National Backbone Network (NBN), the Open Access Model that was introduced by the NCC in deepening broadband penetration in the country, needed to be fully implemented to the ‘letter.’ He therefore called on NCC to expedite action in ensuring that the remaining licences are given out within the first quarter in 2017.
Teniola is, however, worried that both MainOne and IHS that were offered InfraCo license since 2015, were yet to provide the much expected broadband infrastructure in Lagos metropolis and the North central.
“Also, Issues surrounding the project execution in each geo-political region will need speedy intervention by the federal and state government’s collaboration to avoid experiences observed in 2016 were the InfraCos that were awarded licences to cover Lagos and North central regions, were yet to make meaningful broadband infrastructure rollout in 2916,” Teniola said.
In recognition of the company’s capacity, contributions, and infrastructure commitments to developing the country, NCC, in January 2015, awarded a consortium led by MainOne, InfraCo Nigeria Limited a license as the fibre infrastructure provider for Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, as well as IHS to cover North-central. The InfraCo licences cover the deployment of metropolitan fibre-optic infrastructures I within Lagos and North-central on an open access, non-discriminatory and price-regulated basis, and is a strategic plan by the NCC to accelerate broadband penetration, delivering cost effective and reliable broadband services to households and businesses and facilitate the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Already, in partnership with the Lagos State Government and other stakeholder groups, MainOne built fibre infrastructure to enable Nigeria’s first innovation hub in Yaba, dubbed the Yaba Silicon Valley, which houses Nigeria’s tech hubs and start up community. The hub was supposed to create thousands of direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs, by stimulation of the Internet Service Providers (ISP), eCommerce and ICT sectors.