IT Stakeholders Not Pleased with 10% Broadband Penetration, 2018 Target Dims

From available data, it will take special interventions for Nigeria ‎to achieve her 30% broadband penetration as industry stakeholders on Friday bemoaned the mere 10% achievement almost mid-term to 2018 target.

Available statistics shows that broadband has struggled to grow from 6% in 2013, to 8% in 2014 and currently stood at 10%, even though the National Broadband Plan is targeting 30% penetration (growth) ‎by 2018.

The stakeholders who gathered at third quarterly seminar of the Nigeria Information & Communications Technology Reporters' Association (NITRA) held in Lagos, unanimously agreed that President Muhammadu Buhari led government should make deliberate policies that will attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs) to tackle infrastructural deficit in the sector.

Speaking at the NITRA seminar, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, group chairman, Teledom‎ Group and chairman of the occasion, however, warned that quest for FDIs must be balanced to allow local investors participation in creating values in the system too.

According to him, theme for the seminar: Foreign Direct Investment: An Impetus to Achieving Ubiquitous Broadband Penetration", is timely now that the Federal Government is concerned with deepening the economy for the improvement of the lives of the citizens.

He however, said FDIs can be regarded as beneficial when Nigerians could create "contents" to complement demands from the outside world, generate employments, and protect the intellectual properties of the people and profit from the internet economy.

"It has become common ‎saying that Broadband is a service to the people. Before now, the slogan has been 'NarrowBand will deliver narrow future, broadband being broad future'. The important thing is that broadband has to run on infrastructure. NCC has done a good job by trying to unbundle the service provising scope, however, there are rooms for improvement.

"Content is key too. We cannot be claiming for improved broadband penetration without‎ considering how to create contents. Infrastructural investments can be sustained by resources generated from content. So, FDI and broadband can be as broad as Nigerian want it, but we need to balance broadband penetration with the content we are creating, so we don't invent digital imperialism," he said.

Engineer Lanre Ajayi, president of ATCON, said operators in the industry align their thoughts with NITRA that 10% broadband penetration is slow, ‎but every stakeholder must not shy away from the multifaceted challenges faced operators to deploy services.

He said unless issues on right of way (RoW), multiple taxation, security, indiscriminate ‎shut down of base stations; to name a few, are addressed, inability to couping return on investments has become worrisome to the investors.

He called for joint effort to migrating the identified challenges to move the nation telecommunications industry forward.

"The truth is that 30%‎ broadband penetration is not too ambitious considering the fact that countries like Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, etc have achieved even more than that. We have undersea cables already at the seashores of Lagos, the question is why the delays in taking the capacities to the last mile, especially the hinterlands. Investors are not happy about the delays but are faced with puncity if challenges. These have to be addressed to push penetration," Ajayi said.

In a presentation on the Seminar theme, Mr. Olusegun Salami, senior manager, Transmission Access Planning, Network Group at MTN Nigeria, said ‎it's heartwarming that the present administration is employing policies to further open up the economy in a manner that the economy will be able to attract more FDIs,‎ expectedly, such will address inadequacies that hamper broadband penetration.

Essentially, he said, the need to leverage available spectrum ‎to drive broadband to rural areas cannot be over emphasised.

"As we work towards increased broadband penetration, measures to adopt should take take the strategies that made it possible for 90% radio (communication) penetration  in rural areas," he suggested.

Salami recalled that the journey of broadband adoption commenced in Nigeria in 2007 with the launch of 3G as against the narrow bands, however, with issues related to infrastructure been tackled, the time for cheaper smartphones is now.

"Imagine when we have broadband everywhere but feature phones still account for 40% of the market, desktops 30% and smartphones account for mere 25%, it wouldn't work, to say the least," he said.

The ‎Senior Manager, Transmission Access Planning, Network Group at MTN Nigeria‎, also said that LTE services will help expand broadband scope to hinterlands when Federal Government makes deliberate policies to aid operators channel their services to such terrains.

He said, "We are happy government is moving in the direction to increase its investments in the development of the nation's infrastructure such as power, supply, roads, telecoms, etc., in order to reduce the cost of doing business thereby wooing more FDIs.

"Thus, government should encourage production activity via production incentives and/or subsidies in order to increase the economy's GDP".

He added that the anti-graft drives of the present administration should be complemented with efficient judicial system to boast investors' confidence on ‎the system.

Earlier, Mr. Emma Okonji, internet and broadband have been globally acknowledged as the foundation for the transformation of a knowledge-base economy.

"Today, broadband penetration has struggled to grow from 6 per cent in 2013, to 8 per cent in 2014 and currently stood at 10 per cent penetration, even though the National Broadband Plan is targeting 30 per cent growth in 2018. As industry watchdog, NITRA is not pleased with the growth rate in broadband penetration in the country, vis-a-vis the fast growing number of internet users in Nigeria, which currently stood at 88 million," he said.

NITRA, he said, is aligning with stakeholders in urging the Federal Government and the NCC to consider a purposeful implementation of the National Broadband Plan, in such a way it will attract foreign direct investment and also help to boost the natonal development.