Nigeria is still grappling with slow and exasperating access to the cyberspace, even though no fewer than 184 internet service provider (ISPs) licences have been issued by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to date, with varying degrees of success, according to BusinessDay investigation. Prohibitive costs of bandwidth have been identified as one of the most critical drawbacks hindering ISPs from delivering efficient internet services.
Market observers are of the view that the country’s underdeveloped distribution networks, including national long distance fibre, metro fibre and last mile connectivity, constitute a huge limitation, as ISPs are being starved of international bandwidth capacity emanating from a plethora of submarine cables.
The country has about 67.1 million internet users, out of a population of 178 million, according to data from Internet Live Stats. Interestingly, 96 percent of the country’s internet users do not have access to efficient and affordable services. Rwanda, which had just four licensed ISPs as at 2005, is ranked first place in Africa, in terms of broadband download speeds and 62nd globally, with a speed of 7.88 mega bits per second (Mbit/s) as at February 2013. BusinessDay, however, gathered that in Rwanda, with the completion of the government-sponsored fibre optic cable expansion project in 2011, telecommunication services across the country have improved tremendously. “People up and down this nation want to be con- nected.
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What do they really want to be connected to? They want to be connected to the World Wide Web for various transactions, accessing databases as well as electronic commerce sites. “But today, the best of our networks are challenged in meeting that delivery’, said Dem Elesho, a telecoms expert, in a recent report. This gap Elesho said, affords the country an opportunity to put together the building blocks needed to create a data connectivity network that can satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians.
Now, a fresh round of licensing in Nigeria’s telecommunications market is expected to begin in the coming months, which would give birth to seven regionally-based infrastructure companies (InfraCos), says the NCC. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), has urged government to move beyond granting of licences to eliminating those operational barriers hindering the delivery of better quality of service. According to him, operators and ISPs with deep pockets, who have secured licences to roll out services, are yet to invest in infrastructure deployment due to the clumsy process of securing Right of Way (RoW) from various state agencies. These InfraCos will be faced with similar challenges, he said, adding that there is need for well articulated policies in order to encour- age investments. Besides, 24 ISPs are expected to renew their operating licences this year, BusinessDay has gathered. By the provision of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, ISPs are licensed for a period of five years before a licence renewal is required. The ISPs were issued their licences at different times in 2010, but consider- ing the enormous opportu- nities inherent in the online business space, these ISPs are very keen on renewing their licences this year. There has been a 200 percent growth in internet users between 2009 and 2013, says Paradigm Initia- tive Nigeria (PIN). The ISPs (Internet Service Providers) expected to renew their licences include Artifice Colony Nigeria, BroadAccess Limited, TelNetworks Nigeria.
