Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta has called for cooperation and partnership of all Nigerians with the commission.
Danbatta made this call during a courtesy visit to the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Hon. Mohammed Musa Bello.
He noted that telecommunications and ICTs had contributed their fair share to the development of the nation and as such, it should be supported and encouraged.
His words, “The contributions of telecommunications to business, governance, security, commerce, and social relationship in Nigeria have become very significant. The number of mobile and fixed line subscribers have averaged 150 Million within the first six months of this year from January to June 2017. Access to the Internet stands at 92 Million as at June 2017, while ICT contributions to GDP is close to 10 per cent as at the same month. Telecommunications has attracted more than US$68 Billion in private sector investment since 2001.
“Telecommunications is very vital in the administration of most major cities of the world. For the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, which is the seat of the Nigerian government, housing the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, including most agencies of government, the role of telecommunication is very crucial in many respects. Telecommunications play a very vital role in the provision of adequate security surveillance and helping security agencies to keep the city free of crime.
“Telecommunications assist in the resolution of crimes and apprehension of criminals. Telecommunications is vital to the wellbeing of the residents of the city. Telecommunications is the basic foundation for e-governance, e-commerce, e-health, e-education, and all the ‘E’s. Telecommunications play vital role in the mobilization of the citizens for development. In many respects, telecommunications is a catalyst for development and administration.
“With the advent of broadband, the telecommunications landscape has changed dramatically and Nigeria striving to keep pace. ITU has credited our strides with 21 per cent penetration of broadband. This is a major outcome of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s multipronged approach to leverage the inherent potentials of broadband technology, which is the future of ICT. This is why we have consciously highlighted the “facilitation of broadband penetration” as the flagship of our 8-Points Agenda to guide our strategic focus for five years. Our strategy in this direction is to facilitate and support availability of broadband services by promoting deployment of universally available, fast and reliable network infrastructure that will stimulate seamless broadband penetration to drive technology innovations and overall productivity of the economy.
“It is interesting to note that FCT belongs to the first set of two zones, (North Central and Lagos,) where the Commission has issued fibre infraco licenses, to enable broadband deployments in all parts of the federation using the Open Access Model.
“Honourable Minister Sir, a new phenomenon that will be of interest to your administration is the concept of smart cities. The Commission is part of ongoing discussions about how to implement smart cities. Urban planners, city administrators, policy makers, ICT experts, ICT vendors are looking at how better connectivity, better security, cyber security, predictive intelligence, better environment and control, including transportation infrastructure, could be integrated to provide smart solutions for the city residents. However, such cities can only exist where there are robust telecommunications and ICT infrastructure. It is in such cities that the futuristic Internet of Things, IOT, will become a reality. It is our desire, that our FCT, will in no distant future, belong to a class of such smart cities.
“Given the status of the FCT today in the scheme of things, it ought to be the city with the best telecommunications connectivity. But the reverse is the case, and has been so for several years now. This presents us with the reality that our FCT has some challenges that may deny it the opportunity of the revolution in the ICT of the future. The Federal Capital Territory appears to have some of the most challenging issues with Quality of Service when compared with other cities across the country for reasons that we will highlight shortly.
“Honourable Minister Sir, we have come because we believe that with the progressive style of your administration, these challenges will be resolved for the benefit of the government, the residents, and national telecommunications development.
“Operators are willing to collocate but we are yet to receive collocation guidelines from the FCT. We request that NCC guidelines on collocation be adopted by the FCTA. Furthermore, the sites FCTA offered for collocations are not adequate and do not suit the technical specifications of the service providers. It is advised that service providers be involved in determining collocation sites to ensure that the identified sites meet network and radio frequency standards of all stakeholders. However, where it is ascertainable that collocation sites are not possible, FCTA is requested to approve stand-alone installations.
“Unlike some major cities of the world where there are adequate high-rise buildings, which could have taken care of these installations, Abuja FCT is not endowed with these types of properties, thereby making stand-alone installations inevitable. We are aware that some of these installations may pose issues with environmental beauty, but these can be addressed through the type of systems deployed in the designated areas. The fact is that base facilities are indispensable for high quality service delivery as exemplified in developed parts of the world.
“It was agreed in a meeting between operators, FCTA and NCC in 2006 that the FCTA and NCC will meet and harmonize positions on the astronomical increase in fees for building permits imposed by FCTA. This has not been done and operators have continued to receive bills from the Administration based on the 2006 rates. Therefore, we request your approval to establish a committee made up of officers of the FCT and the NCC to resolve issues relating to charges to ensure that rates agreed are cost based and comparable to what FCTA charges are, for other users of properties.
“Any law or policy by the FCTA that affect telecom facilities should not be made retroactive. We have observed that the fact that telecom services in the FCT were not envisaged during its initial planning has resulted in administrators approaching telecom facilities as a normal property, and visiting them with regulations that should not be applicable. We therefore requests that approval be given to all existing BTS in the FCTA except those that clearly pose a danger to its surrounding.”
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