Telecom
Ndukwe Lists Factors for Sustaining Telecom Growth
Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has listed the prerequisites for sustaining the successes recorded in the sector in the last ten years.
Engr. Ndukwe who spoke as guest speaker at the maiden edition of “Breakfast With ” , hosted by the alumni association of the School of Media and Communications at the Pan African University in Lagos, said such factors include a regulatory regime that is independent, transparent, and predictable; an updated national telecom policy and laws, a conducive operational environment; an efficient frequency spectrum management and allocation; improved power supply; expansion of the broadband infrastructure, capacity building of indigenous manpower, stable financial stability, among others.
At the breakfast meeting which held at the Ahmed Onibudo campus of the university and chaired by Professor Juan Elegido, the Vice Chancellor, the NCC boss noted that the successes recorded by the Commission in the past ten years is attributed to the successful sector reform, made possible by conducive environment with respect to policies and the regulatory regime.
“I think to sustain the growth, we must lay emphasis to a few things and I will start by advocating that we must maintain stability in the policy and regulatory environment”, he said. He said these two factors are critical for any investor to make an investment decision.
Engr. Ndukwe whose audience included Engr. Vincent Maduka, former director general of NTA, Professor Emevwo Biakolo, the dean of the School of Communications, Mr. Ben Egbuna, former director general of FRCN, Mr. Olukayode Olubunmi, president of SMCA, said the current telecom policy in Nigeria needs to be updated, while the forward-looking 2003 Act needs to be revisited to accommodate one or two emergent issues in the sector.
The NCC boss said with hindsight of experience, it is critical that the financial and operational independence of the regulator is maintained. “Why we moved as fast as we did over this period is as a result of fair amount of regulatory independence that the organization had”, he said. He said this independence is not just independence from the political hierarchy but also from the operating companies, which he said, makes financial independence very critical too.
He said it is not wrong for investors to make profit as it was government’s decision to invite the investors and without returns on such investments, perhaps, Nigeria’s paltry 400,000 lines in 2001 would not have grown to the more than 70 million active subscriber lines today. “Our focus should not only be that money is being made in the industry but that this decision of government has suddenly changed the landscape and provided phones in the hands of most
Nigerians, and provided telephone “access” because even if you do not own a phone, you will likely find a place to make calls near your location today”, he said.
Ndukwe said apart from efficient management of the frequency spectrum, the regulator must always ensure that frequencies are earmarked for new services are reserved in order to enable the country to be on same page with the rest of the world. He said this is the reason why Nigeria is quite active at the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, at the moment.
“I think also going forward, we must emphasize on growing broadband infrastructure, and not just growing it for the sake of it but catalyzing its adoption and usage, nationwide”, he said. He hoped that the ongoing optics fibre infrastructure deployment going on in the country will accelerate broadband Internet adoption and usage.
While relating this to his pet concept, Fibre Without Borders”, Engr. Ndukwe said “even within the African continent, we should encourage building of optic fibre that links the countries of Africa because that will help us do local peering of Internet, keep local networks linked to each other, reduce price of communicating within the countries in Africa and perhaps greatly increase broadband speed”.
He also noted that the much the nation is able to develop the manpower resources available for the industry will determine how the industry performs in the next ten years and beyond. He cited some countries like India that export such resources to other parts of the world. Ndukwe said the Digital Bridge Institute which was NCC’s contribution to this capacity budging requirement is currently waiting the approval of its application to the National University Commission, NUC, for approval as a university.
He said some areas that are external to the telecom industry but very critical for its success are the power sector and banking and finance sectors of the economy. He advocated for an idea regional management where each state of the federation will have the responsibility to generate and provide power to the state. He wondered why many countries that are less in geographical spread and population than any given state in Nigeria were able to enthrone uninterruptible power supply over the years.
Ndukwe who recalled his parts in the telecom industry as a private operator and President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria before he joined the NCC, said he has had an interesting and fulfilling time.
“It’s been a big part of my life and I consider myself really opportune to be in this place at this time especially in the past ten years in seeing the telecom industry transform to what it is today.
“And obviously, in thinking about sustaining the growth also means that it is still work in progress and there is still much to be done despite the achievements we have been made so far”, he said.
Professor Elegido praised Engr. Ndukwe for the transformational work he had bequeathed to the Nigeria’s telecom industry, and the Nigerian nation in finding its feet in the committee of nations.
The Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), has started to broadcast a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) signal over Africa and Indian Ocean (AFI), providing its first open service in the region via NIGCOMSAT-1R Satellite managed and operated the by Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd., under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
This early open service is provided as part of the programme, which pursues the autonomous provision SBAS services in Africa, to augment the performances of the satellite navigation constellations GPS and Galileo.
With improved accuracy to within a meter, and boosted integrity, availability, and continuity of safety-related applications, these SBAS services will improve flight safety and efficiency in Africa, and also benefit the economy in many areas as land, sea, and rail transport, as well as mass-market applications, supporting user safety, cost-effectiveness, and sustainable development.
The launched open service essentially aims to carry-out technical trials, and to undertake partner airlines field demonstrations for aircraft and rotorcraft, to demonstrate the benefits of the future operational safety-of-life SBAS services, expected from 2024. It will also include early Precise Point Positioning (PPP), and emergency warning service to populations, which performance will be proven through other demonstrations.
The signal-in-space is generated by a dedicated system tested, developed as part of the “SBAS for Africa and Indian Ocean” preliminary design phase, financed by the European Union, and awarded to Thales Alenia Space, Joint Venture between Thales (67 per cent), and Leonardo (33 per cent).
The “SBAS for Africa and Indian Ocean” is based on the European EGNOS (1) developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), acting under the delegation of the European Commission and operated by the European GNSS Agency GSA.
The system prototype uses as reference stations the SAGAIE network deployed by CNES and ASECNA with the support of Thales Alenia Space.
The signal is broadcasted via the SBAS payload on NigComSat 1R GEO satellite of the Nigerian Communications Satellite, and an uplink station deployed in Abuja, Nigeria.
It is compliant to the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and the minimum operational performance standard developed by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) organisation.
It will be visible in the whole of Africa and the Indian Ocean, up to the West Australian coast, and also in Europe.
Dr. Abimbola Alale, managing director/chief executive officer of NIGCOMSAT, said: “we are proud to be part of this ambitious program to provide satellite navigation services in the Africa and Indian Ocean region. The use of our geostationary communication satellite NIGCOMSAT-1R navigation payload to broadcast the first signal will be Africa’s premier contribution to SBAS as a regional satellite-based augmentation system for the continent.”
On his part, Benoit Broudy, vice president, Navigation Business at Thales Alenia Space in France, said the longstanding expertise acquired with the development of EGNOS1 SBAS in Europe, and KASS SBAS in Korea, combined with the new leading-edge satellite positioning technologies make Thales Alenia the ideal partner to best support countries to implement their own SBAS efficiently.
“The equatorial region represents also a key engineering challenge for such a system due to difficult ionosphere conditions, for which Thales Alenia Space has developed a proven solution,” he stated.
Mohamed Moussa, director-general of ASECNA, said the provision of the first African SBAS early service is a crucial major step forward in the development of satellite navigation in the AFI region, and in the deployment of the “SBAS for Africa and Indian Ocean” system, the navigation solution for Africa by Africa.
He said: “It demonstrates the ambition and commitment of ASECNA to enhance air navigation safety for the benefit of the whole continent, in line with my vision for the unification of the African Sky.”
ipNX, Nigeria’s pioneering and leading information, communications and technology (ICT) company and the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) have signed a partnership deal that will further support the development of Nigeria’s ICT and broadband infrastructure and help ipNX expand its fibre-optic network to more than 200,000 residences in Lagos and other locations, including Abuja and Port Harcourt.
A virtual signing ceremony that signalled the beginning of this far reaching relationship between the two parties was held on Thursday, September 17, 2020.
Through this innovative initiative, the USTDA is supporting ipNX to promote inclusive, secure and sustainable connectivity across the nation.
The agreements were made possible as a result of several engagements between the USTDA delegation to Nigeria and the leadership of ipNX; and will advance the goals of the recently updated Nigerian Broadband Plan.
At the Signing Ceremony, Ejovi Aror, group managing director of ipNX, said: “We believe that world-class connectivity and broadband internet access will be pivotal to the digital transformation and socio-economic development of Nigeria.
‘We are very positive that this project will play a crucial role in making our belief a reality.”
Aror added that with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the case for a vibrant ICT sector has never been stronger and the new partnership will bring ipNX a step closer to achieving its mission to continually leverage technology to create innovative solutions that help mankind thrive, while making a crucial impact to the lives of Nigerians across the country.
Mary Beth Leonard, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, said’ “These projects will support the development of Nigeria’s telecoms infrastructure and help to achieve the goals of the National Broadband Plan.
“The U.S. Government has committed significant resources to improving telecoms infrastructure in Nigeria and this support is crucial as we believe that investment in critical ICT projects will strengthen the resiliency outlined in Nigeria’s economic sustainability plan.”
Also present at the virtual event, the Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engr. Bako Wakil, who spoke on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, said: “The support this grant will provide to the telecommunications sector, in particular broadband, is in line with the National Digital Strategy and the National Broadband Plan.
“The NCC would like to congratulate ipNX as it shows the company’s integrity and commitment to be selected for this grant”.
ipNX also revealed that it intends to continue to work with USTDA beyond the preliminary stage, to execute many more projects into the future that will bring about the digital transformation and socio-economic development of major cities in Nigeria in alignment with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy.
With their partnership, both parties fully agree that further development of the nation’s broadband infrastructure is key to unlocking the potential promised by Nigeria’s digital economy.
According to the World Bank’s ‘Nigeria Digital Economy Diagnostic Report’ released in 2019, Broadband is a key enabler to harness the digital economy transformation and high-speed broadband has the potential to accelerate Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
Telecom
Manfa, ANSICTA Boss Pledges to Collaborate with NITDA for Establishment of Zonal Office in Anambra State
Mr Theo Manfa, managing director/chief executive officer, Anambra State Information and Communication Technology Agency, (ANSICTA) has hinted that they are ready to collaborate with National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) for the establishment of the agency’s South-East Zonal office in the State.
He stated this when he led ANSICTA delegation to NITDA’s head office in Abuja recently.
Mr Manfa explained that the call for special requests by the state is necessitated by the fact that the state “has long been known as a home of innovation and entrepreneurship, through the various markets like Onitsha and Nnewi and the plethora of locally produced goods they spawned over time.”
Dr Vincent Vincent Olatunji, Director E-Government and Regulation NITDA receiving an award on behalf of the DG from Theo Manafa MD ANSICTA
He said that innovation and entrepreneurship are important elements to drive the digital economy which the nation is striving to create adding that the state has been watching with keen interest the activities of Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and NITDA which necessitated the intended partnership.
He requested NITDA’s partnership with ANSICTA in building an ICT Hub in Anambra State; hosting a NITDA regional office; hosting NITDA events and programs as a State and region; trainings and Skills development programs of NITDA where the State hopes to train 40,000 residents in the next 2 years in Digital skills; establishment of cooperation on the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) and the provision of the Unity Board where 150 units were requested for a program for secondary schools in Anambra.
ANSICTA also presented an award to the Director General for his “Outstanding Achievements in Driving theDigital Economy” which was received by Dr. Vincent Olatunji on behalf of the DG.
Dr. Olatunji responded along with comments from some of the Directors and said NITDA would be glad to cooperate with the State.
L-R: Theo Manafa, MD/CEO of ANSICTA, Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, DG of NITDA and Michael Orekyeh, COO of ANSICTA
He said it was gratifying to note that Anambra State now has an ICT Agency as Gov Willie Obiano had visited NITDA 6 years ago and the agency had worked with the State in developing an ICT policy for Anambra.
The success of that exercise is the take off of the agency (ANSICTA) which is the execution arm of the policy developed by NITDA.
He further said ANSICTA was by the speech of its MD really in tune with the affairs and mandates of NITDA and stated that ANSICTA should make a formal application for the things requested at this meeting will be looked into by Management for approval by the Director General.
He also thanked ANSICTA for recognizing the hard work of the DG through the award they presented, which he said was most encouraging.
Michael Orekyeh; chief operating officer of ANSICTA was part of the delegation from Anambra State. while the Director General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi was represented by the Director E-Government and Regulation, Dr. Vincent Olatunji; Director Office of ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship – OIIE, Dr. (Mrs.) Amina Sambo Magaji; Deputy Director of IT Infrastructure, Dr. Saidu Kumo; SA Technical to the DG, Dr. Mohammed Yahaya; Corporate Strategy Department, Dr. Taofik Yekini and other Directors and Key Management Staff.
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