When the Federal government set up a high level Committee to develop the 2013 – 2018 broadband strategy and roadmap for the country to underscore the strategic nature and importance of broadband for Nigeria, it made no pretences that Internet and Broadband have become globally acknowledged as the foundation for transformation to a knowledge-based economy.

It also noted that though there were some existing initiatives aimed at deploying broadband in Nigeria, many challenges remained especially with the deployment of a national fibre optic based network to distribute approximately 10 terabytes of capacity already delivered to landing points in Nigeria. It therefore saw an urgent need to accelerate the pace of efforts, and also to introduce new initiatives to address these challenges as this was necessary for the actualization of the developmental goals of Vision 20:2020. 2018 the lapsing point of the Plans has just rolled by and observers and stakeholders alike are apt to examine the extent of attainment of this National Plan.

Engr. Gbenga Adebayo is the current National Chairman of Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria ALTON, an Incorporated Trustees formed in the year 2000 for all telecommunications companies and those providing subsidiary services to telecommunications service providers in Nigeria. It plays the role of promoting growth in the telecommunications sector and, ultimately, enhancing efficient and affordable telecommunications services delivery to users of these services. He is also the Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Communication Network Support Services Limited, a Group of Companies, whose operations cuts across Telecommunication Network maintenance, Call and Contact Centre Service, Media, Broadcasting, Agriculture, Hotels and Hospitality Services, Medical and Hospital Services, among others. He spoke to PATRICK IMO on the extent and impact of attainment of the desired objectives of the National Broadband Plan and expectations of stakeholders on the next step towards moving the country further into a digital economy. Excepts.

ICT Monitor: To what extent was the objective of achieving the needed level of connectivity required to match the creative energy being released in our country on a daily basis for the creation of a data-driven economy achieved by the Nigerian National Broadband Plan that rolled by in 2018?

Engr. Adebayo: To start with, the objective was achieved. The five-year plan was set at achieving a 30% broadband penetration to every part of the country in order to match the creative energy being released in the country on a daily basis. This was directed at the creation of a data-driven economy. We even surpassed the 30%, in fact, we made 31%. This is even despite our industry operating in the same national infrastructure ecosystem that has to deal with problems of energy, security, difficulty of right of way,  access, multiple taxation, problems of incessant closure of sites by all manners of agencies of government particularly in the states and despite these challenges, the sector has trudged on in excellence and today it has become the nation’s most personalized service, it has become the infrastructure of infrastructures, a major driver of our socio economic activities.

Businesses and individuals today depend on telecomm services for their survival and it can and indeed could only have been possibly because of the reliability of the services and, of course, the service providers. I am glad that not only have we achieved what we set to achieve but our industry has continued to fill in that need gap in our national lives. For instance, our sector has contributed more to the country’s GDP than every other sector in the nation’s economy in the last 19 years, with the country edging the more towards digital economy which is more productive, more efficient, etc. Today with just one text message, you can reach any part of the world, the media and most other sectors have more presence online than ever before. The good news is that we are not relenting. We are geared towards doing more and you can be sure, the country will be the better for it.

What are the major challenges this boom on Broadband and other internet services posing to the operators, subscribers and the nation at large that need be attended to in the next plan?

Naturally here as in the whole world the growth of broadband and ICT services has its attendant challenges which include growing cases of Cybercrime, cracking, copyright infringement, identity theft and other such crimes that may threaten the nation’s security. Indeed privacy of transaction is constantly being threatened and the same consumers that are to benefit from the new technologies and services now turn around to heap further pressures on service providers and regulators. There are also issues of access of way, multiple taxation as being created by agents of governments, more at the states level for which our sites are often shut down. These must be looked at critically to continue to encourage broadband and ICT development in the country.

Broadband services and ICT in general have proved to be more efficient, more productive and are expectedly making the right impact on the nation’s economy. We have contributed more than any other sector to the nations GDP in the last 19 years. In terms of availability, I can proudly say that beyond air, natural light and water, telecom services are the most available in the country. With over 98% coverage, we have more telecom services than we have toilets in the country. What we are looking at now is deeper adaptation of the packages like e-government, e-commerce, e-health, e-agriculture and others which invariable fall under individuals and sectional adaptability. 

I particularly give kudos to the regulatory bodies that were not only part of the committee but did their jobs so wonderfully that beyond the Plan’s lifespan, the years ahead looks quite green for the industry. Activities of National Communications Commission, NCC, National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA, National Universities Commission NUC. The NUC implemented the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) in recognition of the critical role that research and networking play in the development of an education system, and indeed a nation state. It drove the establishment of a foundation that ensured universities could communicate, collaborate, access and share knowledge across national and international boundaries for the purpose of research and learning with added capabilities that offered efficiencies of unified communications and consolidation of digital content. The Digital Bridge Institute DBI among others played wonderful roles in the attainment of this feat on Broadband. Development and monitoring of policies alongside educating the general public on how and where to latch onto these services have been so wonderfully done by these institutions and agencies of government. I encourage them not to relent as we are as always willing to step up our acts to ensure these challenges are erase as much as possible.

At the take-off point for this plan, the government pledged to assist the Private Sector in driving pervasive access to Broadband while tasking the Private Sector to ensure the delivery on not just on basic reach and penetration, but also on Quality of Service to ensure Nigerians truly feel the positive impact and benefit of Broadband. Were all promises kept by both parties and where has that left us as a country?

Broadband services in Nigeria are shaping the nation’s economic direction. This is a sure proof that our operators are indeed driving pervasive access to Broadband services in the country. It goes without any coaxing that out of every three shoppers in the land, two pay online without any exchange of cash. It goes to say that we are adapting closely to digital payment, e-agriculture, e-manufacture, e-commerce and other e-transactions. Digital economy is here with us. Imagine today if there is any small event in even the remotest part of the country, it is all over the country and the world in a matter of seconds.

We ensured delivery of broadband services not just on basic reach and penetration, but also on Quality of Service. We have ensured Nigerians truly feel the positive impact and benefit of Broadband. What we are pledging to Nigerians and the world is that we will continue to lead them on in this sphere in terms of quality, in terms of adaptation. We will continue the encouragement of this digital economy.

On the part of government keeping the side of the bargain in terms of assisting us in driving this especially in the area of securing our facilities, they failed. Let me also put in here that the government must step up their acts. Their failure in the area of security of our sectors’ investments as promised at the inauguration of the 2013 – 2018 National Broadband Plan committee is quite discouraging. For emphasis, government said it will classify all public ICT/broadband infrastructure deployed under a national license as a critical national security and economic resource that must be protected from vandalisation, theft, unauthorised tampering and from enforcement action by any authority without a valid order from a high court possibly through the enactment of an ICT Critical Infrastructure Act, among other actions for the administrative protection of this security sensitive and economically important infrastructure. This was never implemented rather we had a situation where at a point our facilities like generators, cables, etc, were being vandalised and many carted away. You can imagine the cost on us directly and indirectly. It was also telling on the subscribing public in terms of services disruption. I am glad to say that that has reduced quite much as many Nigerians, having realized the deep importance of these services now protect the facilities even at no cost on us. Again, the issue of taxation where government agencies more at the states create multiple taxations and often times shut up sites with its spiraling effect on service deliver is quite discouraging.