After many years of indecision, federal government is now ready to change the communications landscape with the merger of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
It is especially welcomed in this era of convergence where telecommunications, information technology and media are now moving into new frontiers in technology, content and media.
In some parts of the world convergence is already reshaping the market both from the providers’ and consumers’ point of view; television via Internet, Internet via mobile phones, Internet telephony…. all services on all infrastructures.
This has also raised the question- the role of National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda) in the rapidly evolving world of ICT.
With convergence already here, regulations by NBC, NCC and possibly Nitda are increasingly overlapping and there need to be merged into a converged law and regulatory platform
Nitda, conceived as a clearing house for IT projects in the public sector has operated in fits and starts right from day one.
It is therefore imperative to subsume Nitda in the converging scenario to save the institution from extinction.
Another challenge in this converging time is the availability of highly skilled to pilot the affairs of the commission that will be formed after the mergers.
Apart from the NCC which has clearly shown that government business could be conducted in a professional and transparent manner, the other agencies that will form part of the commission are still stuck to old ways of doing business.
Efforts should also be made to address the inherent challenges of convergence including market disruption and digital divide
Market disruption where convergence forces a redefinition of sub-sectors that may allow for regulatory arbitrage and digital divide where citizens risk being harmed in a converged ICT environment.
NCC, NBC Merger without Nitda
After many years of indecision, federal government is now ready to change the communications landscape with the merger of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
It is especially welcomed in this era of convergence where telecommunications, information technology and media are now moving into new frontiers in technology, content and media.
In some parts of the world convergence is already reshaping the market both from the providers’ and consumers’ point of view; television via Internet, Internet via mobile phones, Internet telephony…. all services on all infrastructures.
This has also raised the question- the role of National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda) in the rapidly evolving world of ICT.
With convergence already here, regulations by NBC, NCC and possibly Nitda are increasingly overlapping and there need to be merged into a converged law and regulatory platform
Nitda, conceived as a clearing house for IT projects in the public sector has operated in fits and starts right from day one.
It is therefore imperative to subsume Nitda in the converging scenario to save the institution from extinction.
Another challenge in this converging time is the availability of highly skilled to pilot the affairs of the commission that will be formed after the mergers.
Apart from the NCC which has clearly shown that government business could be conducted in a professional and transparent manner, the other agencies that will form part of the commission are still stuck to old ways of doing business.
Efforts should also be made to address the inherent challenges of convergence including market disruption and digital divide
Market disruption where convergence forces a redefinition of sub-sectors that may allow for regulatory arbitrage and digital divide where citizens risk being harmed in a converged ICT environment.
