Stakeholders in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector are pushing for an aggressive infrastructure rollout across the country this new year.
They have thus come up with an agenda which they believed would not only help the country to further explore new areas in ICT, but would also help in consolidating on Nigeria’s past technological achievements.
Part of the agenda for 2015 include the consolidation on local content development in the ICT sector; intensifying efforts on the licensing of telecoms infrastructure companies called the InfraCos; full scale implementation of the country's broadband plan, addressing online financial crimes through cybercrime law; and telecoms network expansion to address the issue of service quality, among others.
The stakeholders, who spoke to THISDAY on the need for a refined agenda setting, said it would help the incoming government to have a sense of direction in the key areas that would help to move the industry further. They therefore urged the new set of governments that will emerge at the federal and state levels after the February general election to, as a matter of urgency, consider the implementation of the agenda and endeavour to maximally adopt the use of ICT tools in driving all aspect of governance in 2015.
Local content development
The Chief Executive Officer of Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem who is well known for his advocacy drive on local content development, has again called on government to pay more attention in developing local content in the ICT sector, which he said, would speed up technology development in the country much faster.
"Nigeria is blessed with natural resources that could be tapped into and used for telecoms development instead of relying so much on foreign importations,” he said.
He made reference to components of mobile handsets, which he said, were completely produced from other countries and imported into Nigeria. According to him, the plastic casings of mobile handsets and other parts of the mobile phones could be sourced for and produced in Nigeria, explaining that this will definitely compel mobile phone manufacturers like Samsung and Nokia-Lumia to establish a manufacturing plant in Nigeria where parts of their mobile handsets could be produced.
This, he said, could create employment for the Nigerian youths. He therefore called on government to make it a policy issue for all mobile phone manufacturers operating in Nigeria to establish a plant in the country, where phone parts will be produced and assembled.
Licensing of InfraCos
Although Ekuwem commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for initiating the licensing of Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) in 2014 that will rollout broadband infrastructure in the various zones of the country, he said the process was becoming too slow.
He therefore called on NCC to expedite action this 2015 in ensuring that the exercise is concluded, owing to their importance in providing ubiquitous broadband infrastructure for the country.
NCC had in 2014, indicated the licensing of InfraCos that will provide broadband infrastructure across the six geopolitical zones and promised them with financial incentives that will facilitate their rollout plans. After making the initiative known to the public, NCC said it would begin the licensing with Lagos and Abuja, but the process was slowed down in 2014. According to Ekuwem, NCC must revisit the planned licensing of InfraCos and ensure that the licensees are named this year, to enable them commence work without further delay.
Broadband development
Since the approval of the country's broadband plan from 2013-2018 by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013, the NCC has been making concerted efforts in ensuring that the plan will lead to the rollout of broadband internet to all nooks and crannies of the country. The NCC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications Technology, has been attending international conferences, wooing international investors to come to Nigeria and invest in the country's broadband policy. Although the campaign appears to be yielding results, Ekuwem called on NCC to intensify further action this 2015 on the broadband initiative, which he said would boost national security, economic development and deepen agriculture.
"NCC's efforts last year on broadband penetration is commendable but the commission must carryout aggressive campaign this 2015, in order to achieve the task before it," Ekuwem said.
Cybercrime law
President, Information Technology System and Security Professionals (ITSSP), Mr. Rogba Adeoye, who expressed his dissatisfaction over what he described as slow pace in the passage of the country's cyber bill into law, called on the federal government, especially the National Assembly members to concentrate on the passage of the bill this year. He said government must concentrate on the cyber law and the new evidence act that admits electronic evidence in law courts, in order to speed up judicial process in 2015. He also wants government to work closely with the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) to get their inputs that will address the technical aspect of the bill. He said there would be lots of litigation to handle, shortly after the general elections in February this year, and warned that government must set the records straight by passing the cybercrime bill into law and empower the new evidence act in other to address cases that must surely come from politicians immediately after the general elections this year.
Adeoye also called on government to focus on the development of skilled manpower and ICT infrastructure in 2015. According to him, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the agency responsible for the implementation of government ICT policies, and the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), must ensure that they focus more on skill development in other to raise young Nigerians that will further drive ICT development in the country.
Telecoms challenges
Speaking on key areas that government and telecoms operators must focus on in 2015 in order to move the telecoms industry forward, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo told THISDAY that there is need for government to consider funding of telecoms operators this year in the form of tax relief. According to him, most of the smaller operators passed through difficult times last year, and must be supported by government this year through some form of tax reliefs that will make them operate at optimal level. He said the margin between big telecoms operators and small telecoms operators was too wide and must be closed if they must survive competition.
For the operators themselves, Adebayo said they must improve on their service quality this year, in order to retain the confidence subscribers have in them.
"A situation where operators will not provide feedback to telecoms subscribers on quality of service should be discouraged this year, and operators must also learn how to inform their subscribers on every development concerning their networks,” he said.
He also wants government to consider the rollout of broadband infrastructure in 2015, since ubiquitous broadband rollout means so much to telecoms development.
Adebayo is of the view that NCC must consider carrying out peer review mechanism between operators and the regulator, adding that it will help the regulator understand better, the challenges of telecoms operators so as to address them promptly.
On the other hand, the operators will understand the regulator better, which he said, would lead to better synergy in the industry.
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Quelle/Source: THISDAY Live, 01.01.2015
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