Private internet data providers in Nigeria have jumped on the constantly moving train of the Internet of things (IoT) by continuously seeking solutions to upgrade accessibility and deepen penetration of broadband in the country. However, experts are worried about the snail pace of the Federal Government which is supposed to be leading the drive through regulation, concerning broadband as the world prepares for the 5G era.
The fifth generation (5G)wireless system is the next major phase of mobile telecommunications and internet standards beyond the current 4G/IMT- advanced standards. The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliances says that the 5G networks will provide data rates of several tens of megabites per second to support tens of thousands of users.
The appeal of 5G is that it has capacity to increase internet speeds and penetration and will have particular relevance for Nigeria and other developing nations where the vast majority of citizens access the internet through their mobile phones.
It will mean that many of Nigeria’s 70 million internet users will be able to access high volume and value educational, business, governance and other data on their mobile phones and other portals, thus creating opportunity for significant pesonal and business improvement.
Private internet service providers such as Smile, Spectranet, Swift, Ipnx among others, are currently deploying 4G internet services in major cities in the country.
David Venn, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Spectranet 4G said at a media briefing in Lagos recently, that the company was constantly evolving to accommodate growth changes and internet service improvements.
“We have seen in recent time that the subscribers are driven by quality and great speed. We have also noticed that in today’s internet of things, the user of the internet is on the fast pace, since videos are played almost automatically without the click on it (your screen) except when you want the voice to be activated, as the case is on facebook.
“These and many more, including the latest announcement by Netflix that Nigerians will soon be able to enjoy the service calls for some pragmatic actions from us as a world class service provider in the country, particularly when we know that today in the country, we are the number one service provider in every area you can imagine. We will continue to improve as the world evolves in preparation for 5G.”
Also, Ericsson has recently announced the launch four new solutions to support communication service providers in capturing the business opportunities created as the 5G era moves closer.
The company revealed that the new solutions will be showcased during the ‘Mobile World Congress’ (MWC) to be held Barcelona, Spain, later this month.
According to Ericsson, this is fueled by the Internet of Things, 5G and the cloud. Service providers will see a growing number of diverse network uses, which will bring new value chains, financial models and business opportunities. To capture the opportunities ahead, service providers will have to continuously transform and adopt new ways to create value for consumers.
These moves by private data service providers’ show that they are preparing for 5G. However, the same cannot be said about the Federal Government when complains have been made about visible progress not seen, even in regions licensed for broadband rollout.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was assigned the mandate of driving broadband infrastructure in the country, to support broadband services to all Nigerians and there is an available model that has been put in place, where independent companies are allowed to bid openly for licenses.
However, since 2014 when two winning bidders where announced for the deployment of infrastructure and roll out of broadband services in Lagos and the North-Central Zone, not much has been done in terms deployment.
In December 2014, the NCC announced the bidding process for InfraCo licenses which were meant to give birth to seven regionally- based infrastructure companies. However, only two companies where announced as winners and issued licenses for infrastructure to help roll out broadband in two Zones.
MainOne was announced as the winning bidder for infraCo license in the Lagos region and infrastructure holding services (IHS) won the North-Central region, leaving the South-West, South- East South- South, North-West and North-East unlicensed.
Industry watchers say that the slow pace might make it impossible for the Federal Government to achieve its set target of 80 percent growth penetration in broadband services by 2018 in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) seeing that almost two years after winning bidders for InfraCo licenses emerged, even the two zones licensed have seen no visible change or any form of deployment of infrastructure up till now.
“Not much is going on by way of deployment of these infrastructures in the two licensed zones and the remaining five zones; South-West, South- East and South- South in the southern part of the country, as well as North-West and North-East have not been licensed so far,” Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC said at a press briefing in Lagos recently.
Danbatta however added that the commission had plans to issue the remaining five licenses very soon.
“Let me say, we have already set in motion processes for the licensing of the five remaining zones and very soon this process is going to be completed and infracos will emerge in the open and transparent process that the commission is known for, and the credibility that we have built over the years.
“There is already an appointed committee board that will look into the licensing of infracos for the five remaining zones and at the next management meeting, the bidding process will be concluded and the commission will announce who the winners are,” he said.
Some analysts are of the view that Nigerians continue to see broadband as some type of fancy word, rather than an essential developmental amenity that should be accessible to every citizen.
As at the year 2007, more than half of the homes in the United Kingdom had broadband with an average connection speed of 4.6 Mbit/s. Bundled communications deals mixing broadband, digital TV, mobile phone and landline phone access were adopted by 40 percent of UK households. This high level of service is considered the main driver of exponential growth in online advertising, retail and other basic services.
Meanwhile the ministry of communication technology revealed that broadband penetration rate was at a ridiculously low rate of 6.8 percent in 2014 in Nigeria.
Lanre Ajayi, National President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) told BusinessDay in a telephone interview that the main problem was the delay in issuing those licenses.
“From the day of announcement of the InfraCo license winners and the day of actually issuing the license, there was a long delay. Those licenses where not issued until 2015 and people made assumptions that they had been issued before then. It is however very important that all the other zones are also given licenses as soon as possible,” he said.
Jumoke Akiyode
