The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Nigerian C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Commission (NCC) have collaborated to solve major problems confronting telecommunication connectivity in the capital city and its environs. This was disclosed recently when the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umar Danbatta, paid a courtesy visit to the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello in his office in Abuja.
“ 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”, the NCC boss told the FCT minister. He listed some of the key areas as collocation of telecommunication base stations in the FCT, the 2006 fee regime of the FCTA, retrospective FCTA laws that affect telecom facilities, activities of road construction companies in the FCT, delayed approval for installation of base stations/fibre deployments and implementation of national economic council resolution on multiple taxation, levies and charges on ICT infrastructure.
On collocation, the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman said operators were willing to collocate but “we are yet to receive collocation guidelines from the FCT.” He said further: “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 frequenscy standards of all stakeholders. However, where it is ascertainable that collocation sites are not possible, FCTA is requested to approve stand-alone installations.” On the 2006 fee regime of FCTA, he said it was agreed in a meeting between operators, FCTA and NCC that year that the federal capital administration would meet and harmonise 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 rates agreed are cost based and comparable to what FCTA charges are, for other users of properties”, Prof Danbatta appealed to the minister. On the retrospective FCTA laws that affect telecom facilities, the NCC boss said 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 request that approval be given to all existing BTS in the FCTA except those that clearly pose a danger to its surrounding”, he said.
He also told the minister that the operators had complained to FCDA engineering department about frequent cuts of their fibre lines by road construction companies in the FCT. “These frequent cuts of fibres have resulted in total loss of services by subscribers and have added to the problem of poor quality of service in the FCT. Despite the efforts put in by the engineering department of the FCDA to address the complaints, the cuts have continued unabated. Road construction companies should be enjoined to exercise extreme caution to ensure reduction or total elimination of fibre cuts”. He advised.
On delayed approval for installation of base stations, he said there were cases of applications for installations of base stations in Abuja that have been pending since 2014and beyond.
He also called the attention of the minister to the resolution of National Economic Council. He requested that the document be communicated to the key officers of the ministry for fully implementation.
Earlier, the NCC boss said the quarterly contribution of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased to N1.6 trillion from N1.4trn. He added that the ICT sector was now contributing close to 10 per cent to the GDP annually. The country, he added, recorded an increase in internet users hitting 92 million as at June.
He said that broadband penetration was expected to hit 30 per cent next year, and that would further increase the number of internet users in the country.
“Telecommunications has attracted more than $68 billion in private sector investment since 2001,” he said. He, however said the sector faced some challenges like lack of collocation guidelines, increase in fees for building permits, retrospective FCTA laws, activities of road construction, delayed approval for installation of base stations/fibre deployments among others in the FCT. The FCT Minister,
Malam Musa Bello, however promised that the capital city’s administration would collaborate with the NCC to overcome those challenges.
“Part of our job is to ease businesses and increase investment in the city and the country at large. We would support you in ensuring there is always increase in broadband penetration across the country,” Malam Bello said.
He promised to set up committee to look into all complaints raised by the NCC. He told the NCC boss to feel free to contact directly if any of the issues raised was resolved appropriately by the committee.
