Local content will drive Nigeria’s internet penetration, says ComTech minister
INTERNET
| March 17, 2015, 8:16 a.m.
By Kokumo Goodie, Lagos, Nigeria
Contrary to the belief that social network platforms such as YouTube, Facebook WhatsApp and others will drive internet penetration, Nigeria’s Communication Technology Minister, Mrs Omobola Johnson, says local content will drive internet penetration in the country.
Speaking as a panelist at the Ericson and Alliance for Affordable Internet (a4ai), programme at the last Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, she said the development of relevant local application will drive internet penetration in the country, arguing that websites that offer job opportunities for job seekers are mostly visited.
She said: “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”
Mrs Johnson said the decision of the Nigerian government to create the Communication Technology Ministry underscored the importance attached to ICT as critical to economic growth and job creation.
During her presentation, Executive Director, a4ai, Sonia Jorge, said Nigeria’s improved performance was promoted by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecoms sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.
In the report of the research, Jorge explained: “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies like Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia. The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country. Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission, plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally. The first two of these were awarded in early 2015 to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and Northcentral states, respectively. The government is also working to improve infrastructure sharing among these operators, who have traditionally built overlapping fibre networks.
The nascent “Smart States” initiative, which sees states committing to reduce the cost of broadband access by reducing taxation and simplifying regulation, is also a positive step. Nigeria’s mobile broadband penetration rate stands at just 10 per cent – despite the fact that close to 40 per cent of Nigerians use the Internet – and the government has put in place policies to increase this penetration level to 30 per cent by 2018. To increase the ability of mobile operators to serve more Nigerians, plans were recently announced to auction spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band.”
The study covers 51 emerging and developing economies. The countries are so ranked based on period of commitment to pursuing policy and regulatory frameworks that promote healthy and competitive markets for infrastructure expansion and have been creating incentives to stimulate the demand for broadband for quite a long time (at least two to three decades). The study noted that in the case of developing economies, such as Rwanda and Nigeria, their efforts are more recent.
The Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 which defines clear roadmap for the industry and responsibility for stakeholders was released two years ago. A major component of the plan is the role of the NCC in facilitating growth in the sector. Supported by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, and in fulfillment of its assigned role in the Broadband Plan, the NCC has lined up series of new licensing to accelerate broadband growth in the country and reduce cost of access.
