The Nation Newspaper

Tag: InfraCos

  • NCC to disburse N3b subsidy to InfraCos

    THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)has concluded the process that will lead to the disbursement of subsidies to the six licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos).

    Sources in the Commission said at the weekend about N3billion has been set aside for disbursement.

    This is part of the digital transformation agenda, which the regulator said it has put in place for actualisation, stressing that the subsidy will augment the InfraCos’ capital expenditure (capex).

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who spoke when he received a delegation from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, reiterated the Commission’s determination to make affordable and dependable broadband services ubiquitous.

    Led by its Acting Country Director, Mr. Thomas Hardy, the USTDA team was received by the NCC board members and its senior management team, including board Chairman, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, who urged the agency to work with the Commission to tackle the deployment challenges being faced by some InfraCo licensees in the Southsouth geo-political zone due to the riverine, swampy nature of the region.

    While providing updates on the Commission’s broadband infrastructure development project, especially the licensing of InfraCos each in the six geo-political zones and Lagos, which is carved as the seventh zone, Danbatta said the scheme has a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with a subsidy component that is being worked out for the licensees to fast-track deployment in their respective zones.

    “The licensees are expected to play some roles and NCC too is to play some roles to encourage broadband infrastructure deployment by the licensees. Currently, we have seen the licensees’ capex, we have negotiated the capex and we have arrived at percentage of subsidies based on the negotiation that we have had with them. However, the subsidy will be paid to them by the Commission upon attainment of reasonable milestones by the licensees in their zones of deployment,” he said.

    The already licensed six InfraCos include MainOne Limited for Lagos Zone, Raeana Nigeria Limited for Southsouth Zone, O’dua Infraco Resources Limited for Southwest Zone, Fleek Networks Limited for Northwest Zone, Brinks Integrated Solutions for Northeast Zone, and Zinox Technologies Limited for the Southeast Zone while the remaining seventh licence for Northcentral Zone is being processed.

    Danbatta explained that the InfraCo idea is an initiative of the Commission designed to allow licensees deploy their infrastructure for a period spanning five years and providing wholesale services to other licensees to drive last-mile connectivity to people in the rural, under-served and un-served areas of the country.

    He said: “We are trying to build an intra-city and inter-city networks that will be able to connect citizens all over the country irrespective of where they are and what their circumstances are. To that extent, we have decided to provide access points in all the 774 local government areas in the country, trying to provide access to close to 190 million Nigerians, a lot of whom live in rural communities.”

    The EVC, however, emphasised that while the Commission is adopting fixed and wireless broadband approaches to its broadband infrastructure development, InfraCo model is open to the use of combination of terrestrial, sub-terrestrial and aerial fibre optic deployment options and the use of television white space (TVWS) spectrum to provide connectivity in rural areas.

    Hardy, who commended the NCC for achieving and surpassing the country’s broadband penetration target of 30 per cent last year, said the agency’s mission was to see areas where the agency can help to support the digital transformation goals of the country, by working with the NCC and other organisations “to open up opportunity for greater trade, greater economic development and closer bilateral cooperation”.

    “As a small foreign sister agency of US with a long-standing history in Nigeria, we support economic infrastructure projects; help in the telecoms, energy and transport sectors where countries have identified their priority development goals in the area of infrastructure development and through US companies, we develop an independent analysis of ways to meet your infrastructure goals,” he added.

  • NCC: Infracos key to infrastructure deployment

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has said licensing infrastructure providers (Infracos) is a key step to ensure the deployment of the much needed infrastructure for the telecoms sector.

    Speaking at a panel session of the International Institute of Communications (IIC) and Regional Telecommunications and Media Forum in Singapore, Prof Danbatta said the Commission had to develop innovative solutions to fast-track infrastructure deployment with a view to deepening the nation’s broadband penetration.

    The board of the NCC had issued two additional Infraco licences to Zinox Technology Limited for the  Southeast, and Brinks Integrated Solutions Limited the Northeast, bringing the total number of Infracos licenced to four.

    The NCC chief, therefore, called for the development of human capital, which is in tune with the dynamism of the industry to achieve the desired balanced regulatory intervention.

    “Regulators must consider the idea of having in-house research and development (R&D) units that reach out and collaborate with researchers, academia in order to align and be abreast of technological innovations and trends,” he explained.

    Also, in a paper titled: Building Institutional Capacity and Human Capital: How A Regulator Builds Capacity  That Fits For Purpose In A Rapidly Moving Environment, Danbatta said the NCC would continue to ensure that its institutional structure remains pliable enough to tackle emerging technologies and exigencies of the telecommunications sector.

    He said the commission’s performance has attracted the recognition of numerous reputable institutions both locally and internationally, especially in the last two years.

    “In 2017, the Bureau for Public Service Reforms, Nigeria reviewed the Commission’s structure, processes and work culture, scored it a platinum category and recommended it a model for other public institutions in the country to emulate,” he added.

  • NCC begins selection of Infracos for broadband provision

    NCC begins selection of Infracos for broadband provision

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has extended invitation to Infrastructure Companies (Infracos) to submit bids for the first phase of its Open Access Broadband designed to make broadband access available across the country at affordable rate.

    According to the plan, seven Infracos will be licensed for the programme. While one would serve each of the six geo-political zones of the country, one will serve Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

    In the notice of invitation to interested bidders, its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO,  Dr. Eugene Juwah, said the Infracos would be expected to deploy metropolitan optic fibre cable (OFC) infrastructure and associated transmission equipment in Lagos State and North Central zone on an open access, non-discriminatory, price regulated basis.

    He explained that the Open Access Model adopted by the Commission “has been examined and considered as a strategic means for the deployment of optic fibre backbone transmission infrastructure network in Nigeria that will bridge the current broadband gap, facilitate the development of local content and deliver cost effective services to households and businesses.”

    According to the EVC, it is envisaged to address the challenges of fibre deployment in towns and cities, promote infrastructure sharing, reduce Right of Way issues and transform the beneficiary states to smart states, amongst others. Dr. Juwah also informed that competent companies, consortium of which at least one of the consortium members must be a Nigerian registered company or firms including those who had earlier expressed interest are invited to submit tender for consideration.

    Dr. Juwah had recently told the Senate Committee about the planned commencement of the full scale implementation of the broadband expansion programme after full consultations with the industry and the international community, including the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, which has supported the Commission in the implementation of the programme that will be very transparent with the application of international best practice.

    In the bid document for the selection process and criteria which is available on the NCC website, the submission of bids from interested companies will end on August 4, 2014.

  • ATCON warns against backlash of NCC’s policy

    ATCON warns against backlash of NCC’s policy

    The Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has warned the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) against implementing its open access model for broadband deployment.

    It said a similar policy by the regulator a few years ago affected internet service providers (ISPs).

    ATCON’s President, Lanre Ajayi, said the first step in a new policy should be its environment impact assessment (EIA).

    He urged the NCC to undertake an EIA of the broadband policy.

    He said there could be a backlash of a good policy.

    According to him, a policy by the NCC a few years ago which stopped ISPs from operating at a particular band depleted the number of players from 92 to less than 30, adding that the policy might also have a similar ripple effect in the industry.

    “Have we done the socio-economic impact assessment the policy? I think we should do the socio economic impact of the policy before we jump into its implementation,” Ajayi warned.

    Under the open access model, which the NCC intends to implement, a total of seven companies called InfraCos will be licensed to provide broadband services in the six geo-political zones of the country will one of the InfraCos will operate in Lagos.

    NCC Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Dr Eugene Juwah, said the government would provide funds to the InfraCos based on their plan.

    But some players in the sector said it could lead to unfair practices.

    One of the stakeholders in the industry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented that the NCC would spend public funds on the companies the regulator will be licensing to provide broadband services to the citizens.

    “When you deploy public funds to a private investor, such funds will be used to have undue advantage over the players in the industry,” he said.

    But the EVC said there was nothing esoteric about the government offering subsidy to investors, arguing that the earliest players in the mobile telephone services enjoyed tax holidays for about five years, adding that even after the expiration of the five years, some of them were not ready to pay.

    Juwah said since the project for which subsidy was being provided was for the public good, there was nothing wrong with providing such an incentive, arguing that fears of the players in the segment was baseless.