The inability of ministry of Communications Technology to secure certificate of concurrence from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) is delaying the conclusion of the National Rural Telephony Project (NRTP) meant to provide telecommunications services to the rural dwellers and communities, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.

The certificate of concurrence or so-called certificate of no objection will mean that ICRC- the national governing body for public private partnership (PPP) processes is in agreement with the move to hand over the project to new investors.

Also, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) another government agency this time responsible for harmonizing the existing government policies and practices by regulating, setting standards and developing the legal framework and professional capacity for public procurement in Nigeria has also insisted on certificate of concurrence before it can seek approval from the federal executive council.

Engr. John Ayodele, director, Posts and Telecommunications in the ministry of Communications Technology, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, that the ministry is desirous to conclude the transaction.

Ayodele said that the delay in securing the certificate from ICRC was due to the recent change in the management of the commission.

He stated that with the inauguration a new board, the ministry hopes to secure the certificate from the ICRC soon.

Ayodele, said that ICRC had earlier refused to give the ministry certificate of concurrence, arguing that the transaction was carried out before the commission was established which makes it difficult to evaluate the project.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the National Rural Telephony Project, the little successful $200 million project was conceived in 2001 to take telephony services to the rural areas.

The project has however been caught in a web of confusion, claims and counter charges with fingers pointing left and right.

Apart from the certificate of no objection; paucity of funds as well as nonchalant attitude of government and her supervising agencies have also conspired to hobble the project.

The project, inaugurated under former President Obasanjo’s first term in office, was to cover 218 Local Government Areas (LGA) in the first phase and provide over 636,256 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), lines in the 774 LGAs and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the second phase to bridge the digital divide between the urban and rural areas.

Three Chinese companies– ZTE Corporation, Huawei and Shagai Bell – were awarded the contract at the sum of $200 million.

The Federal Government had borrowed the above amount from the China Export and Import (EXIM) Bank, while it provided 15 per cent counterpart funding of N5 billion for the execution of the project.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the Chinese companies failed to deliver on the project prompting the federal government to transfer the first phase of the project to five indigenous telecommunications companies namely: Key Communications Limited, Suburban Broadband Limited, Voicewares Network Limited, Gicell Wireless Limited and Hezonic Limited.

In the new arrangement, Key Communications won the Ibadan Zone with a $38 million bid, while Suburban Broadband bid with $140.5 million to manage the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna zones.

Voiceware Networks bid with $30 million to manage the Enugu Zone, while Hezonic and Gicell Wireless bid with $30 million and $20 million to manage Enugu and Bauchi.

They were to build, operate and maintain (BOM) the project in different zones under the model of a Lease, Operate and Own (LOO) framework.

They were supposed to operate the networks for a period of 10 years within which they would pay a specified amount of money to the government.

But the contractors are yet to commence work some four years after the contract was awarded.

Irked by the development, the House of Representatives recently mandated its committee on Communications to find out issues delaying the full take of the project.

Engr. Gerry Ekesiani, chief executive officer, Voicewares Networks Limited, one of the operators of the project that won the contract to operate South-east and Benue exchange, said that stakeholders including: operators and ministry of Communications Technology have engaged in meetings in order to resolve outstanding issues that are delaying full take off of the project.

“We are working progressively. If all parties keep to our agreement, operators of NRTP will be able to roll out service this year,” he said.

Voicewares Networks boss stated that continued delay of the project is jeopardizing full realization of the project, adding that the 800MGH frequency allocated to them is no longer suitable for delivery of broadband and that had it being that the project has taken off the current plan by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to license 2.3Ghz spectrum would have been an opportunity for them to upgrade to 2.3Ghz.

He explained that 2.3Ghz is robust for broadband service delivery which NRTP is designed for.

Ekesiani added that the continued delay in the rollout of services is causing Association of Rural Telephony Operators of Nigeria (ARTON) financial losses while the equipment have become object of vandals and thieves.

He also warned that the equipment may become obsolete by the time the final approval is obtained as CDMA 2000 1x technology installed for the project is a legacy.