Katsina State Government has waived the payment of Right of Way (RoW) charges earlier imposed on telecom operators by it.
Mr Ibrahim Kaula, the Chief Press Secretary to the Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, announced the fiscal relief for the telcos.
The RoW charge, which the telcos had complained about, is the levy imposed by state governments on the laying of optic fibre cables across the states and varies from one state to the other.
The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) identified the RoW charges as one of the constraints hampering drives by the Infrastructure Company (infraco) Licensing Project, which is designed to achieve 70% broadband penetration in the country by 2025.
The Katsina State Government said the waiver of the charge was aimed at wooing telecom investors to the state.
Kaula stated that the state governor had issued an Executive Order titled “Right of Way (RoW) charges Regulation Order 2023,” to give effect to the waiver, adding that the order is issued in exercise of the powers conferred on the state governor by Section (5)2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The CPS stated: “This order may be cited as the Right of Way (RoW) charges (Regulation) Order and shall be deemed to come into effect on Dec. 8, 2023.
“From the commencement of the Order, charges on Right of Way (RoW) throughout the State shall be free of charge per linear metre,” he added.
Kaula said the RoW charge, as fixed by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), amounted to N145 per linear meter, assuring that based on the Executive Order, laying of the cable is now free in the state.
He expressed optimism that the move will soon attract investments for Katsina, especially in the areas of ICT and internet development.
Katsina State is the second state to waive the RoW charge, after the Kaduna State Government approved the fiscal relief measure for telecom operators in 2020.
