- How would you define the issue “Connecting the Next Billion”?
Connecting the Next Billion is simply a challenge to all Internet stakeholders to engage in
making Internet securely accessible and affordable to a new crowd of prospective users who
are majorly dwellers in rural and remote areas in the world.
- Have you observed any regional or national specificities regarding connectivity (e.g. Internet industry development)?
Yes, there have been numerous measures spear-headed by the Federal and State Governments
through their agencies and parastatals, to develop the Internet Industry in Nigeria.
- Do you know of existing policy measures, and private sector or civil society initiatives addressing connectivity? If yes, was the policy a government policy, industry policy (either collective best practice or corporate policy), technical policy, or did i
Yes, in Nigeria, there are some policies in place that address connectivity. Most of these policies
are government policies, but they are as a result of collective contributions from various
stakeholders, with the adoption of best practices. There have also been Internet access
initiatives by private organisations, where institutions/organisations provide free or affordable
Internet access to rural communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR).
Some of the policies developed by the government are the Broadband Policy, ICT Policy and the
Local Content Policy. These policies are implemented by various sectors and agencies.
The Broadband Policy was a reaction to the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU) call for
a national broadband policy in Nigeria. The goal of the Nigerian Government through this policy
is to deliver a broadband speed of not less than 50% of the average speed available worldwide
to consumers within five years. It is widely believed that for there to be an increased access to
the Internet, there must be an improved broadband penetration.
The Federal Ministry of Communication Technology developed a National ICT Policy to establish
a comprehensive framework for the ICT sector in Nigeria that will encourage investments and
also enable rapid expansion of ICT networks and services that are accessible and affordable to
all.
Apart from the policies set by the government, there have also been countless initiatives by
agencies and organisations to improve access in Nigeria.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has a number of initiatives,
and they are as follows; Rural Information Technology Center (RITC), Campus Wide Area
Network, Knowledge Access Venues (KAV), Community Access Centers (CAC) in Libraries, IT
Infrastructure for Tertiary Institutions, to mention a few. Please visit their website to read more
about these projects. (www.nitda.gov.ng)
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under the Federal Ministry of Communication
Technology, in line with the National Broad band plan has put in place new licensing regimes
that will facilitate rollout of telecommunications infrastructure to hinterland. The Commission
in collaboration with the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) also has some initiatives that
enable this. The NCC has carried out numerous access projects, namely, State Accelerated
Broadband Initiative (SABI), Wire Nigeria Project (WiN). Also, through the USPF, the NCC has
carried out many Internet access/broadband improvement projects. Some of them are,
Community Communications Center (CCC), Rural Broadband Internet (RUBI) Access,
Accelerated Mobile Phone Expansion Project (AMPE), School Access Projects, etc. To read more
about these projects, kindly visit their website www.ncc.gov.ng.
Airtel Nigeria, a private company launched an initiative in 2014 called ‘Boost ICT Usage in Rural
Areas’. This initiative was designed to help consumers living in or visiting the designated
locations in underserved communities to have first-hand experience of the unequalled data
services with no financial implications to the consumers.
Other organisations like NIGCOMSAT, MTN Nigeria, etc., have also carried out some measures
to improve Internet penetration in Nigeria.
- In your opinion, what worked well in the development of the policy, and what impediments were encountered?
In the development of all these policies, the major help has been the involvement of
consultation from various key multi-stakeholders, thereby making the overall outcome
acceptable by the public. There are various platforms through which stakeholders are involved;
the Nigerian IGF has been a very solid platform, and many other platforms like the ‘e-Nigeria
Conference’.
Also, in the development of these policies and frameworks, attention has always been paid to
regulatory and legal environment where these policies will be implemented, alongside other
pertinent realities of the development made prior to evolvement of the new ones.
One major obstruction was that of clash of interest, where more than one agency is seen to be
implementing the set policies in the exact same way, and this brought about a view from some
stakeholders to discontinue such initiative, being that it is a waste of resources and manpower.
- What was the experience with implementation?
The implementation of the policies was not altogether seamless, because, before the National
ICT policy was developed, some states already had their ICT policies through which they had
been managing their ICT sector, therefore making it very difficult for them to adopt the national
policy. But so far, it has been agreed that for there to be a more coordinated manner in which
the ICT sector is run, there has to be an input from the federal level.
There were also issues of Right of way, which made implementation of some of these policies
difficult. Also, during the implementation stage, it was discovered that some sectors of the
nation’s economy and structure did not fully understand the mission of the Ministry of
Communication Technology being that it is part of the country’s recent development. Which
resulted in uncoordinated approach to the implementation of ICT developed policies. More
challenges were experienced in the process for example, Double Taxation, Political
Interference.
- Did you experience any unintended consequences of policy developments/interventions, good and bad?
The introduction of these policies has exposed the fact that there is lack of human capital with
adequate skillset to help effective implementation and maintenance of the developing
structures. Sufficient awareness must be provided to end users, to enable them utilize the ICT
resources deployed in their environment.
During deployment, it was discovered that most of the residents of the communities in which
these infrastructures were being built, were not duly informed on the reasons why such
equipment were placed in the community, thereby making it difficult for these people to place
value on them, which further caused an early occurrence of damage and mismanagement of
these equipment. Also, in Nigeria, there have been times when the Environmental bodies have
had a discord with the Telecommunication industry, because of the assumption that these
communication equipment being setup do not comply with the environmental standards.
The access provided to the dwellers in these underserved communities have been used to carry
out negative ventures by a few, nevertheless, we also acknowledge that these have also been
the mediums through some have had their first form of access to a computer or mobile device
to enable them use the internet.
In some other cases, parts of our society are willing to make use of these services. The
challenge is the attitude of our political leaders who for personal political interest tend to
personalize these projects and used them as campaign tools. So the ordinary man is not made
to believe that these projects are actual theirs. There is need for serious sensitization to create
awareness
- Can you think of unresolved issues where further multistakeholder cooperation is needed?
Open Access and Infrastructure sharing: This can only be resolved by the strong involvement of
multi-stakeholderism, where various regulators and bodies can share their already established
infrastructure, which will serve as the backbone where most of the needed systems that will
bring about greater Internet access can be implemented. For example, the power/energy sector
must of a necessity, be on board with the ICT sector, because power is a primary backbone for
Internet services and other ICTs. The Power can be leveraged on by using fiber optics for power
to provide Internet services to underserved areas
Duplication of responsibilities among various organs of the government need to be address.
This situation is what leads to poor supervision and regulation.
There are issues with respect to Multiple Taxation, Right of Way, Multiple Regulations. There
are also issues with respect to emerging technologies/Media, understanding what service is
licensable and what is not and proposing the relevant regulation to address this.
- List proposed steps for further multistakeholder dialogue/actions.
More concentration has to be placed on utilizing already established infrastructure by
increasing the demand level for safe and secure access, affordability and local content in the
already created Internet space. There are also the need for more content on government
services online, monitoring and evaluation of ICT infrastructure and processes, protection
against security and privacy concerns, as these and more are the agents against the rapid
achievement of ‘50 million’ goal. It is highly recommended that private and public sectors
should foresee the great importance of the internet and its many benefits, thereby find it very
necessary to partner in Internet development schemes.
As a result of this years’ multi-stakeholder Nigerian IGF, stakeholders proposed that a
National Internet Economy Strategy and Internet Penetration Goal be formulated, to
enable a more directed drive to achieving the national goal of connecting the next 50
million and thereby contributing to the ultimate goal of the Global IGF.
There is also a call for a multi-stakeholder approach in implementing the alreadyestablished
Internet-related policy documents which are the ICT Policy, Broadband
Policy and the Local Content Policy. Due to some cost related barriers to reaching the
rural communities, the telecommunication regulators have been encouraged to provide
more funding to enable provision of access to those underserved areas.
Capacity Development should be strengthened in collaboration with the major
stakeholders in both private and public sectors to enable people acquire relevant skill
and competence that will enable increase in level of local content.
More efforts are being made to bring the IGF closer to the people in rural areas to give
them the opportunity to make relevant input into the Internet ecosystem.
Extensive measures should be taken to provide Access and Infrastructure for people
living with disability.
Lowering of cost of access to the Internet, making it much more affordable to users.
All sectors of the country’s economy should get involved in the multi-stakeholder
process of the IGF.
The NCC is currently developing an online stakeholder engagement platform that
provides an avenue for comments, feedback on certain issues from interested persons,
within or outside the country. It also provides access to a public space where online
meetings, via whatever approved platform (WebEx, Adobe Connect etc.) are held.
