Years after the Rural Telephony Project was initiated under the Universal Service Provision Fund with a $200m budget, it has not materialised. Experts are optimistic that an investment of $40m by MTN outside the USPF and the sale of NITEL will guarantee telecoms services to the rural communities in Nigeria. DAYO OKETOLA writes Despite Nigeria‘s explosive mobile subscription volume, which is currently rated to be above 75 million, experts say a larger percentage of the country‘s rural dwellers is still waiting to be part of the telecoms revolution.
MTN Nigeria, after a recent survey, said over 40 million Nigerians in about 850 villages across the country have never been connected to any form of telecoms services.
The estimate, according to some telecoms analysts, may be conservative as far more than 40 million Nigerians may still be in the dark age as regards communications.
To provide the needed respite, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, created the Universal Service Provision Fund to promote rural telephony.
The project, which involved the deployment of fixed wireless telephony in 218 local government areas across the country, was packaged by two Chinese companies with a $200m (about N26.6bn) concessionary loan from China.
However, after the Chinese companies failed to deliver the project, the government, in 2009, transferred the first phase of the project to five indigenous telcos, namely; Key Communications Limited, Suburban Broadband Limited, Voicewares Network Limited, Gicell Wireless Limited and Hezonic Limited.
Under the new arrangement, Key Communications won Ibadan zone with $38m bid, while Suburban Broadband bid with $140.5m to manage the Federal Capital Territory, Enugu and Kaduna zones. Voiceware Networks bid with $30m to manage the Enugu zone, while Hezonic and Gicell Wireless bid with $30m and $20m to manage Enugu and Bauchi zones respectively.
The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof Dora Akunyili, at the time, expressed discomfort with the bid presented by the selected telcos and made efforts to have them reviewed.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Communication, Mr. Dave Salako, had also recently said the lawmakers would probe the RTP to ascertain why it had not taken off despite the huge resources committed to it by the government.
Generally, the story of rural telephony in Nigeria, according to experts, has been that of delay, inertia and corruption till date.
The President, Association of Telecommunications companies of Nigeria, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, who had followed the project from inception, said, ”The Nigerian government‘s investment in a Rural Telephony Project was adjudged wrongheaded and ill-advised because it was not really a genuine investment that had a focus. It was a scheme designed by some Chinese investors, who merely wanted to promote their own interest but they presented the project as a viable solution to the government, which against good advice plunged into it”
According to him, those who opposed the project at inception reasoned that no licence was known to have been obtained for the project.
Omo-Ettu said, ”Fundamentally, it was pointed out at the time that the project did not respect the National Communications Act in spirit and in concept. It was reasoned by those who opposed it that the project would only succeed in helping its promoters, among other things, dump equipment and probably found other ways of entrenching themselves into the Nigerian economy which was not a bad move but defective to the extent that it was being done through the back door.”
The ATCON president advised the government to cancel the project to ‘prevent certain wastage,‘ adding that the government should support telephone providers already licensed and are actively and genuinely in operation.
“That is why USPF exists and it will require genuine and pragmatic implementation of its mandate,” he noted.
According to Omo-Ettu, rural telephony used to be regarded as an unviable investment because there was neither a market nor appropriate technology for it. However, with relevant technologies, there has been an appreciation of market viability, he argued.
He said, ”Today, because of the complimentary roles of emerging technologies and marketing skills, rural telephony may now be good business. No doubt, it still largely requires funding support – the type which the Universal Service Provision Fund is designed to address.”
In what seems as a confirmation of Omo-Ettu‘s submission, MTN Nigeria, in a bid to extend its coverage to the rural areas, has embarked on a rural telephony scheme, outside the USPF.
To this end, MTN, last week, finalised a deal worth over $40m with Huawei Technologies to implement rural telephony infrastructure in about 850 villages across the country before the end of 2011.
The Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh said,”Our goal is to cover every village in Nigeria. The first phase will see 350 villages covered before the end of May 2011, via the support of our strategic partner, Huawei Technologies, while 500 villages will be covered in the second phase before the end of December 2011.”
According to him, the villages selected for the first phase include 91 in Abuja; Asaba (21); Ibadan (17); Enugu (37); Kano (92); Lagos (13) and Port Harcourt (46).
Farroukh added,”We recognise the technical complexities, the infrastructure challenges, with some of the villages just 200 kilometres to 250 kilometres far from one another. MTN and its consultants got on the job and we shall be deploying the latest telecommunications technology to serve the unserved.”
The MTN boss noted that it was not even about the cost but that the main challenge would be to ensure that service-related costs were maintained adequately to further improve on the deal.
Farroukh explained that Huawei would deploy the latest base stations technology that consumed low energy and are environment friendly.
He said that the base stations could also be upgraded for other services in future, if the need emerges.
A former Minister of Communications and commissioner with the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Olawale Ige, said,”The policy of extending telecoms services to the rural area has being with us since the monopoly era. But we have not been able to achieve much due to the dearth of adequate infrastructure and the problems of monopoly.
”But today, we now have liberalised, open market and convergence as the drivers of the telecommunications industry. I must commend the efforts of MTN Nigeria, because this is not easy to do, especially if we are to consider logistics, including the capital and maintenance and funds for technical services, amongst others.”
Rural telephony in Nigeria may also have received a boost with the approval of the sale of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited to the New Generation Consortium.
The official spokesman of the consortium, Mr. Usman Gumi is also the Managing Director of G-Cell Wireless Limited, one of the telcos that won the bid to operate the Rural Telephony Project.
Investigation by one of our correspondent showed that the five other companies that won the rural telephony bids in the other five geopolitical zones are also members of the New Generation Consortium. They plan to integrate the rural telephony project into the new NITEL.
The MTN CEO, like other experts, believes that connecting Nigerian rural communities has substantial social value, irrespective of the revenue telcos derive from it.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101025171415
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