NCC Raises Alarm over Declining Investment in Telecom
- By Abimbola Tooki
- Published April 4th, 2011
- News
- Unrated
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is worried by the drastic reduction in investment on networks by telecommunication operators in the country. This development is consequent upon findings by the commission that most of the operators are not proactive enough in attracting needed investments on their growing networks.
Specifically, the commission is worried that the rate at which some of the networks grow is not commensurate with the level of investment on such networks. This, the commission noted, has largely been responsible for the continued decline in the general quality of telecommunication services in the country. And if this is allowed to persist for a longer period, the country might witness a collapse of some of the networks.
Mr. Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman of NCC, has disclosed that the commission is already working on a regulation that would compel the operators to generate proportionate and adequate investment on their networks. This framework would ensure that the commission is able to sufficiently measure and match the level of investment by operators with the number of subscribers they carry on the networks. “For example, you can not carry 10 million subscribers on 1,000 base stations, it is impossible,” he said. “There are ways to measure the capacity of base stations vis-à-vis the numbers of subscribers an operator is carrying. If you have 50 base stations but supposed to have 100 base stations, you have to add the remaining 50, and that is new investment. “We will soon devise the means of actually determining the amount you have to invest in order to determine whether you are going in tune with the required investment.”
Juwah said although this is a new area of regulation, “we have to look at it because of the peculiar problem we have in this country to ensure that certain level of investment is maintained on the networks”. He said the commission is determined to ensure strict monitoring and compliance, so that the service providers will also sit up in certain areas and provide value for money for their teeming subscribers.
Good quality of service, according to him, can only come with investment. “If there is congestion from the base stations, you have to build more; if there is congestion in the transmission line, you have to put higher capacity to those lines, and all these require more money.”
Specifically, the commission is worried that the rate at which some of the networks grow is not commensurate with the level of investment on such networks. This, the commission noted, has largely been responsible for the continued decline in the general quality of telecommunication services in the country. And if this is allowed to persist for a longer period, the country might witness a collapse of some of the networks.
Mr. Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman of NCC, has disclosed that the commission is already working on a regulation that would compel the operators to generate proportionate and adequate investment on their networks. This framework would ensure that the commission is able to sufficiently measure and match the level of investment by operators with the number of subscribers they carry on the networks. “For example, you can not carry 10 million subscribers on 1,000 base stations, it is impossible,” he said. “There are ways to measure the capacity of base stations vis-à-vis the numbers of subscribers an operator is carrying. If you have 50 base stations but supposed to have 100 base stations, you have to add the remaining 50, and that is new investment. “We will soon devise the means of actually determining the amount you have to invest in order to determine whether you are going in tune with the required investment.”
Juwah said although this is a new area of regulation, “we have to look at it because of the peculiar problem we have in this country to ensure that certain level of investment is maintained on the networks”. He said the commission is determined to ensure strict monitoring and compliance, so that the service providers will also sit up in certain areas and provide value for money for their teeming subscribers.
Good quality of service, according to him, can only come with investment. “If there is congestion from the base stations, you have to build more; if there is congestion in the transmission line, you have to put higher capacity to those lines, and all these require more money.”
