The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has identified key challenges facing Internet Service Providers, ISPs in the country and promised to proactively mitigate the constraints with appropriate policies
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum, organized by Business Remarks in Lagos, lamented that currently the service providers were contending with Right of Way (RoW) issues in the industry and conclusion of standardization with State Governments, multiple taxations, deployment of Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) compatible with all service providers, lack of company Corporate Code of Governance and lack of Code of Practice for Internet Service Provision.
Danbatta, who disclosed that total subscribers for data services in Nigeria as of February 2022 stood at 144, 059,086, explained that the NCC had licensed 756 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as of March 2022, out of which 188 ISPs are active.
He stressed that the National Policy on Digitization as well as the National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 can only be facilitated through Internet Service Provision.
In his keynote address at the forum with the theme ‘Examining the Nigerian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Viability in a Digitized Environment’, the industry regulator also pointed out that the ISPs were facing other challenges bothering on anti-competition issues, standardizing the price of bandwidth, the need to open different Spectrum Bands (32GHz, 42GHz and 60GH2) for last-mile internet access and low Internet access in the Northern region of the country due to security challenges.
Worried by the militating constraints, Danbatta hinted that the commission was considering policies and regulations to ensure that ISPs and other smaller players in the industry operate optimally in order to attract new investments into the telecom sector and by implication, improve its contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He listed some of such policies and regulations being considered for adoption by the NCC as including providing the required regulatory frameworks and interventions in terms of policies, guidelines and determinations that will encourage fair play in the telecommunications industry, encouraging and mandating more openness and transparency in the activities of stakeholders within the industry in order to ensure healthy competition practices amongst competing licensees.
Others are, promoting digitization efforts across the length and breadth of the industry, commitment to the full realization of the objectives of the Nigeria National Broadband Plan 2020-2025, and actively engaging in strategic collaborations with stakeholders who have crucial roles to play in the growth and development of the Nigerian economy with an emphasis in the Telecommunication Sector.
Danbatta further promised that the commission would continue to encourage industry stakeholders to seek and explore opportunities in the sector, adding that licensing of 3.5GHz will create an enabling environment for Internet Service Providers to strive in Nigeria.
The EVC said: “The digitization of the economy can only come into being when the ISPs are fully encouraged and that is what the Commission is focusing on to ensure that enabling environment is created through the development of regulatory instruments that will address the concerns of ISPs in particular and the telecommunications sector at large.”
In her opening remarks, Business Remarks boss, Bukola Olanrewaju, explained the forum was organized to examine the role of the Internet Service Providers, who it believes provide the connectivity and gateway to a digitized world.
According to her, in view of the internet’s increasingly important role and adoption, the shift to a digital economy offers abundant opportunities, in which connectivity plays a key role.
She noted, however, that despite their critical roles in the digital economy’s drive, ISPs, which provide the infrastructure for a digital economy, had been struggling.
Olanrewaju said: “Internet Service Providers in the Nigerian telecommunications industry have been struggling to stay afloat due to challenges confronting their market to remain in business, expand operations and post profit every financial year.”
She further explained that over the years, studies had shown that the licence renewal rate of ISPs in Nigeria continued to drop, even as most of the ISPs who served the enterprise market lost revenue during the pandemic because their services were canceled or suspended, despite procuring wholesale capacity.
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Skymax Integrated Network Limited, IPNX, eStream Networks, WTES Projects Limited, MangoNet Integrated Technologies, FibreOne Broadband, Dotmac Technologies, ICSL, NITDA, participated and supported Business Remarks in the Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum.
