*The Nigerian telecoms industry stakeholders discuss the Federal Government鈥檚 proposal to deploy 90,000 kilometers of fibre optic cables across the country, urging proactive measures to address extant issues of Right of Way charges, multiple taxation, and levies, all within the purview of state governments, for successful implementation of the project to boost the digital economy

Gbenga Kayode | 绿帽献妻

Nigerian telecoms industry stakeholders have said the Federal Government鈥檚 plan to deploy 90,000 kilometers of fibre optic cables across the West African country may face several obstacles, especially from the state governments that are likely to frustrate the effective implementation of the project.

The stakeholders, spoke at the Sixth Edition of the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo) Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Lagos, with the theme which was focused on Nigeria鈥檚 renewed strategic agenda for the digital economy.

The participants in the Forum also noted that without addressing the current issues of Right of Way (RoW) charges, multiple taxation, and levies, which are under the control of state governments, the project, expected to be implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) could become an exercise in futility.

They stressed the need to ensure the successful implementation of the project which the Federal Government has designed to complement existing connectivity for universal access to the Internet across Nigeria, and provision of the required backbone infrastructure to support the Nigeria Digital Economy.

Addressing the identified obstacles

Mr. Chidi Ibisi, Executive Director of Broadbased Communications, in his paper on the topic, 鈥淗armonising Nigeria鈥檚 Fibre Deployment Strategies for Effective Implementation鈥�, noted while the government鈥檚 SPV initiative is a good plan that could help the country bridge its current digital infrastructure gap, the government should address extant challenges in this regard.

Ibisi stated: 鈥淭he issues of high cost of Right of Way (RoW), destruction of fiber by road construction companies and vandals all need to be addressed for this new SPV initiative to be successful.鈥�

Highlighting some of the challenges telecoms operators face when deploying infrastructure in the country鈥檚 digital ecosystem, Mr. Chidi Ajuzie, Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO) of WTES Projects Limited, said the biggest challenge to fibre cable laying in Nigeria is the informal RoW by hoodlums in states of the Federation.

Ajuzie also said: 鈥淔or states, a formal right of way is set and some states are adopting it but the informal side of the right of way is where the complexity has come today.

鈥淚f I鈥檓 trying to lay fibre in some communities here in Lagos, the first thing that happens is the so-called land owners (Omo Oniles) come out and a different set of people will keep coming from one street to another and they charge you. How do we achieve adequate broadband infrastructure in this kind of situation?鈥�

Why state governments should take ownership of the project, by ALTON Chief

In regard to the strategic role of the state governments in addressing the identified challenges, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, National Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), stated that for the 90,000 kilometres fibre project to succeed, the state governments have to take ownership.

Adebayo said: 鈥淔or the project to succeed, I think the governments at sub-nationals should take ownership. This issue of state governments seeing right of way as IGR (Internally Generated Revenue) should be a thing of the past.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 talk about the digital economy on one side and the government is seeing those who provide the services as sources of revenue.鈥�

The National Chairman of ALTON also noted: 鈥淭he government has always come up with good policies, but the implantation, particularly when they are tested far afield, is the biggest problem. Governors will go to Abuja and say 鈥榠n my state, I will give the right of way free of charge.鈥�

鈥淲hen you go to such a state, they may give you the right of way for zero or one Naira, but they will give you developmental levy, education levy, state impact levy, ecosystem levy.

鈥淲hen you add all of these together, it is more than the right of way charges. So, who is playing who?鈥�

The place of private sector players in effective fibre project implementation

Also in contributions at the forum, Dr. Ayotunde Coker, Chief Executive Officer of Open Access Data Centre (OADC), stressed the need for the private sector to execute the fibre project, even as the World Bank is expected to fund it with up to $3 billion.

鈥淭he World Bank can put money into the government but it needs private sector partnerships as the execution engine and that’s what we’ve been pushing in Africa.

鈥淭he key thing is that when the World Bank puts the money in, it should engage the private sector, figure out the policies that it needs to do and enable the private sector to execute them effectively and make it as open as possible.

鈥淲ith that, they can achieve what they are trying to achieve,鈥� Dr. Coker.

He emphasised that for the success of the project, Nigeria should learn lessons of what didn’t work in the past so as to achieve the new Broadband penetration targets with the fibre range that is required.

The expert stated: 鈥淢eaningful broadband is what we need, rather than just a huge set of megabits per second implementation.

鈥淲e need superhighway fibres. We need the distribution of these backbone that allows us then to fan out.鈥�

He also urged state governors to be part of the project by providing an enabling environment for infrastructure roll-out.

鈥淚f you are a state governor and didn鈥檛 participate in it, the state won’t grow and it’s going to impact your state,鈥� Coker noted.

Earlier in his opening address, Mr. Omobayo Azeez, Convener of PIAFo, said the conference was to create a midpoint dialogue platform for digital economy stakeholders in both public and private sectors to brainstorm, exchange perspectives, clear grey areas, harmonise thoughts, and create a sense of collective responsibility towards accelerating our collective prosperity through technical efficiency.

Azeez disclosed the event focused on Nigeria鈥檚 renewed strategic agenda for digital economy.

The Convener of PAIFo explained the new digital economy blueprint of the Federal Government does not only sustain existing policy directions and targets, 鈥渋t also challenges us on the possibilities of attaining new frontiers with a view to 鈥淎ccelerating Our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency鈥�, which he described as the theme of the summit.

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