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Broadband Council Harps On Smart States, 50 Percent 3G Coverage [press release](AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Broadband Council in its 4th Broadband Council Meeting held in Lagos has affirmed increased 3G coverage to 50% of the Nigerian population by 2015. Report on the proceedings of the meeting from the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Communication Technology lately indicates that the meeting which coincided with the first year anniversary of the approval of the Broadband Plan by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan observed that the progress in the review of the broadband plan has been slower than expected; adding that broadband penetration has however gone up from 6 to 6.8% since implementation. "All members agreed that sustained efforts needs be maintained to increase the penetration rate in accordance with the five-year target of the Broadband Plan as full 3G roll out would lead to increased mobile broadband penetration for all," the report said. "To support its push for full 3G roll-out across the nation, an Access Gap Analysis of the coverage of the country has been completed by the USPF. The purpose of the Access Gap study by USPF is to ascertain/determine priority for unserved and under-served areas and direct appropriate investments to these areas. This will inform plans for addressing under-served and unserviced areas across the country." The meeting explained that the USPF's soon to be published Access Gap Analysis shows large population clusters of 500,000 and more still requiring coverage. Adding, the significant work by the USPF has given real empirical data to the issue of which areas of the country have connectivity. It said that the members of the Council commended the work of the USPF in this area as the work would feed into the prioritised areas for USP funds. According to the report, the Council extensively deliberated on the progress made with the Smart States initiative and getting States to reduce or remove RoW charges and other related fees. 'Five States, it noted have so far indicated interest in being Smart States, comprising - Gombe, Bayelsa, Ondo, Anambra and Katsina.' Lagos and Cross River State are already considered well on their way to being Smart City States, while Abuja is also in a great position to being smart. The Minister of Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson, who is the Chairman of the Council in her remarks, hinted that the Smart States drive to engage Governors and relevant authorities at the States and federal level to address the issue of multiple taxations will accelerate the rolling out of critical infrastructure across Nigeria. "The Lagos State Government had earlier signed an agreement with the Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies (ALTON) to reduce the cost of RoW from 3,000 naira to 500 naira per meter, a significant reduction of 85%. The aim of the Smart States initiative is to ensure that effective measures are adopted to remove arbitrary charges and eradicate multiple taxation across the nation. Previous research by the Ministry has revealed that RoW charges, levies and taxes contribute about 70% to the cost of rolling out infrastructure in several States," she indicated. She further explained that a collaborative agreement between the Ministries of Communication Technology, NCC, the Environment Ministry and NESREA has been gazetted and placed to ease off the bottlenecks in base station deployment. She also intensified that an MOU outlining the roles and responsibilities of each department with respect to base station deployment and approvals of Environmental Impact Assessments necessary for effective service delivery in the telecoms sector is now operational. She noted that the timeline for the processing of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports will no longer exceed 90 days, another obstacle often highlighted by operators. "The push by the Council for the release of more spectrums by the NFMC and NCC is yielding positive results. The Nigerian Communications Commission successfully auctioned the 2.3GHz spectrum band to Bitflux Communications in February this year. The auction is in line with the mandated timeline of the broadband plan. The release of complementary Infraco licenses will follow shortly. NFMC continues to work closely with the NBC and NCC with regards to digital dividends and the release of 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz planned later this year. Incumbent occupants of the spectrum have been engaged and a mode of transition is being worked out," the Minister stated. On the Council's deliberation on the Cybercrime Bill and work done so far by the TV White Space Committee, the Minister averred that the Cyber Crime Bill passed through the first reading in the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2014 and that the Bill is awaiting its second reading by the Senate and House of Representatives. "The NFMC has approved the piloting of TV white space technology in Nigeria and the pilot will commence with 6 companies offering services in unserviced and under-served areas. Pilots will be for one year under licensing from NCC. The purpose of the pilot is to establish the TVWS solution as a viable rural access technology for the Nigerian context," Omobola espoused. She recalled that the Broadband Council had after its third meeting on the 17th of February launched an awareness campaign to communicate the transformational benefits of broadband to all Nigerians and encourage its usage and adoption as well as inform Nigerians about the areas where broadband can be accessed in the local communities. She also observed that the campaign tagged: "Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians" is on-going and will raise awareness and disseminate information on the benefits of Broadband and its economic and social value for Nigerians. The Minister informed that the Council has inaugurated a Media Advisory Council to help drive the broadband awareness campaign. Omobola Johnson disclosed that these achievements are in line with the President Goodluck Jonathan's goal of seeing broadband penetration increase five-fold by 2017 and the action items stipulated in the Broadband plan. According to her, the Broadband Council made up of 19 members and chaired by the Minister of Communication Technology was inaugurated on July 16, 2013 and charged with the implementation modalities for the approved Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2013 - 2018. Copyright Government of Nigeria. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |