A call to action on NCC’s 8-point agenda

17 May 2016, 12:00 am
Martins Hile
A call to action on NCC’s 8-point agenda

Feature Highlight

Prof. Danbatta is now at the cusp of enacting the second revolution in Nigeria’s telecom, which would be driven by broadband infrastructure and data services.

A view of Nigerian Communications Commission headquarters

On assuming office as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta promptly launched an 8-point agenda for the telecoms industry. An 8-point agenda can be unwieldy and difficult to track. Perhaps with this realisation, the NCC underpins the eight action points by three operational goals, which are “availability of service, accessibility of service and affordability of service.” With this strategy, the NCC seems poised to address the many challenges that the Nigerian telecoms industry must overcome for the sector to contribute to economic growth, support innovation, deliver infrastructure and create jobs.

For broader awareness, Prof. Danbatta’s eight-point agenda for the NCC are: i) Facilitate broadband penetration; ii) Improve quality of service; iii) Optimize usage and benefits of spectrum; iv) Promote ICT innovation and investment opportunities; v) Facilitate strategic collaboration and partnership; vi) Protect and empower consumers; vii) Promote fair competition and inclusive growth; and viii) Ensure regulatory excellence and operational efficiency. What becomes immediately apparent is that these action points are intertwined; success in one can mean success in a few others. Although the goals are multiple in number, they fit well as an elegant strategic vision, which the NCC has started implementing since 2015 with plans of completion in 2020.  

The NCC plan is not being implemented in a vacuum. It is part of the global agenda of using ICT to stimulate Growth, Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Innovation & partnership, under the Connect 2020 framework for action by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The expectation is that ICT will now play more and more important role in delivering and supporting innovation and more inclusive growth in Nigeria. The already envisioned future of 3-D Printing, use of robot and other artificial intelligence, coupled with the social media revolution, means ICT will define how we work and how we relate.

With the validation of the 8-point agenda of the NCC, it is time for very rigorous implementation. ICT is a frontier of innovation where Africa is seen to be able to catch up with, or lead, the rest of the world. The flourish of mobile banking in Kenya has proved this is not a pipe dream. But Nigeria, like much of Africa, lacks ICT infrastructure adequacy. Paradoxically, this translates to higher tariffs. Quality of service is poor and access to broadband is still very limited, although there has been a giant leap in mobile telephony.

The first revolution in Nigeria’s telecommunication was mobile voice, spearheaded by Ernest Ndukwe’s NCC, when the rollout of GSM networks followed a widely-acclaimed license auction he supervised during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. That was over a decade and half ago. Prof. Danbatta is now at the cusp of enacting the second revolution in Nigeria’s telecom, which would be driven by broadband infrastructure and data services. It would be a fitting resuscitation of lost momentum in the immediate past few years when a complacency seemed to have slowed the pace of growth in a sector that was doing well but could have done much better.

Broadband penetration in Nigeria is currently at about 6.5 per cent. Efforts to increase this to 10 per cent of the population by 2020 requires investment in infrastructure. A determined effort is required to make the requisite investment in infrastructure happen. The NCC has already issued two, out of five licences for infrastructure companies (InfraCo), for the coverage of the South West and North Central geopolitical zones. These areas are not only the most lucrative because they have the nation’s largest sub-national market – Lagos, and the federal capital – Abuja; the South West and the North Central are the safest parts of the country.

Licencing of Infracos and deployment of broadband infrastructure investments for coverage of North-East, North-West, South-East and South-South would, under the current circumstances, be dogged by commercial and security considerations. Therefore, the NCC needs to come forward with a programme of additional incentives to secure broadband infrastructure investment for these geopolitical zones. The onus is on the regulator to make the investment happen, and work with the federal and state authorities for the protection of the investment.

Improvement in broadband infrastructure is key to improvement in quality of service which the NCC seeks. Nigerians have continued to endure poor quality of mobile voice telephony. Voice calls, whether business or social, can always be made later to achieve better clarity. But it is not always the case with data service. There is immediacy to having a videoconference, because it is scheduled and participants from multiple time zones may be involved. Where the NCC successfully midwives broadband infrastructure, it would also be meeting its goal of “facilitating strategic collaboration and partnership.”

The NCC has to, as a matter of urgency, commence the licencing of the remaining Infracos to cover the currently uncovered areas. This is the only way to promote inclusiveness. ICT and broadband must not provide another facet to Nigeria’s lack of inclusivity. No part of Nigeria should be stifled with the capacity to innovate and leverage ICT to deliver innovative ideas.

For NCC to deliver on its agenda, it will have to implement bold internal reforms to foster regulatory excellence and operational efficiency that Prof. Danbatta seeks to enthrone at the Commission. One easily recalls how the SIM registration by the NCC, under the last leadership, delivered acrimony instead of providing a robust database of mobile phone subscribers for the country. Indications are that the Commission is still struggling with regulating the market in which the operators are big and powerful. Yet NCC needs to promote fair competition and consumer protection. Institutional reforms that would enable this and other set goals of the 8-point agenda to come to fruition can no longer be delayed. It is time for the NCC to act on its rhetoric.


Martins Hile is Editor, Financial Nigeria magazine


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