Nigeria: How NCC Is Ushering Nigeria Into The Next Digital Frontier

Under the able guidance of the Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umaru Garba Danbatta,  the Commission’s mandate as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 and other guiding legislations, has always been at the forefront of leveraging latest technologies to put Nigeria on the global map of the digital economy.

The Commission has been working to ensure increased broadband penetration in line with Federal Government’s targets as contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Pan (NNBP), 2020-2025, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2020. Some of the key targets of this national policy document are to ensure a 70 per cent broadband penetration to, at least, 90 per cent of the population.

It also seeks to achieve broadband speeds of 15Mbp and 25Mbps in rural and urban areas respectively over the next five years. The Commission is also driving various initiatives aimed at ensuring deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) Mobile Technology in Nigeria.

With the emergence of technologies such as 5G, which offers enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC) and Ultra-Low, Ultra-reliable Latency Communication (uRLC), there is already a platform that would bring succor to our connectivity challenges if the requisite policy, frameworks and infrastructure are put in place.

The Commission recognises that emerging technologies such as Fifth Generation (5G) mobile network technology, Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing; Quantum Computing Augmented/Virtual Reality, among others are already playing a critical role in improving remote communication over the internet with great user experience globally.

This explains why the Commission has seen the need to promote the use of these emerging technology trends for great economic development in Nigeria.

According to the EVC, Prof. Danabtta, having a robust broadband infrastructure will play a greater role in fast-tracking the effective deployment of 5G technology and facilitate availability of other emerging technologies earlier itemized.

Already, the Commission has auctioned some spectrum slots in 3.5GHz band and two of the licenced mobile operating companies, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications have deployed their 5G networks across the country while the third licencee, Airtel Nigeria is working on deployment also.

This is in line with the marching order given to the Commission by the  Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), following approval by the Federal Executive Council to proceed on 5G Deployment Plan. The Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction enabled stakeholders to compete favourably in the auctions and the deployments in the two half years.

Recently, the Commission instituted the process of renewing its licensing structure in the sector.  This decision was informed by the wide range of technological advances, convergence of technologies and services which have characterised the global telecoms space over the years, and which impact is increasingly being experienced in Nigeria.

It is reckoned that, the current licence structure is almost 20 years old, hence the need for an urgent review of the existing licence patterns to reflect new licensing trends in line with international standards while providing opportunities for improved revenue for government. It is hoped that the review will culminate in the appraisal of the terms and conditions of the various licence categories, including licensing fee, as well as identification of the limitations of the various license categories, with a view to clearly determining licences that should be phased out or amended.

As a corollary to the above to the licensing structure review, the Commission has finalized review of its Spectrum Trading Guidelines (STG). This instrument allows that the spectrum resource in-country to be traded on the Secondary Market through Transfer, Sharing or Leasing (TSL) upon satisfying stipulated regulatory conditions.

It suffices to mention here that the NNBP 2020-2025 requires that these Guidelines be reviewed to ensure that un-utilised spectrum is fairly traded to facilitate rollout by other operators among others. The Guidelines will, therefore, facilitate the country’s yearning for ubiquitous broadband access in line with the economic agenda of the Federal Government.

As vehicles for implementation of the NNBP, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030) and other similar digital economy policies, the NCC has unveiled its Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2020-2024 and the Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), 2021-2025, which will ultimately drive the next frontier of growth in the telecoms sector. The two strategic plans embody critical areas in which the Commission intend to focus on toward driving the implementation of digital economy of the government.

While the new SMP 2014-2024 focuses on five pillars, namely: Regulatory excellence, Universal broadband; Promotion of development of Digital economy, Market development and Strategic partnering, the SVP 2021-2025 focuses on achieving the following: Organizational Renewal for Operational Efficiency and Regulatory Excellence;  Facilitating the Provision of Infrastructure for a Digital Economy which fosters National Development;  Promoting Fair Competition, Inclusive Growth, Increased investment and Innovative Services;  Improve Quality of Service (QoS) for Enhanced Consumer Quality of Experience (QoE); and  Facilitating Strategic Collaboration and Partnership.