In fulfillment of its commitment to put Nigeria on the
front-line as a technology driven economy, the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian
Communications Commission, Prof Umar Danbatta says the Commission has
commenced the process of deployment of
Fifth Generation (5G) technology across the country.
The EVC dropped the hint on Thursday during the public
inquiry on draft frequency spectrum (fees and pricing, and annual operating
levy regulations held in Abuja.
The move he said followed series of pre-trial roll out
exercise by MTN and Airtel networks, which justified the Commission’s decision
to commence the roll out plan across the nation.
He stated that the action is driving the provision of such
ubiquitous services on making frequency spectrum available to its licensees,
adding that the efficacy and reliability of these initiatives will be hinged on
proper market valuation of the frequency spectrum and fair assessment of
levies.
According to Danbatta, the move became imperative because
‘‘the global telecoms industry has seen an explosion in technologies and an
attendant secondary reliance on different approaches to drive the best out of
different frequency spectrum.’’
This he said has seen designation of several bands of
frequency spectrum for communications services and a key illustration is the recent identification of some spectrum
frequencies for 5G deployment.
‘‘The commission is
conscious of the expectations and the need to ensure that all regulatory
instrument are made ready to meet the challenges. This makes the review we
are conducting today an important milestone in pushing the country to the front
queue of this global effort.
‘‘Hence, we must be
prepared on both ends of the industry to
prepare the country for these remarkable changes, while the licensees continue
to invest in deployment, the Commission will sustain its drive by ensuring
regulatory efficiency and excellence.’’
According to him, the Commission had crossed all the Ts and
dot the Is and waiting for green light from the Federal government to roll out the services soon.
He further explained that the Commission had already
submitted the proposal to the federal government for approval since the
prerogative lies solely with the Federal government to do so and would commence
roll out as soon as it receives the green light.
Since the three frequency bands required for 5G coverage had
been assigned for the deployment, Danbatta said that Nigeria cannot afford to
be left behind by some other countries that have rolled out the services in
line with the dynamics in the sector and demand for emerging technologies
across the globe.
On the public inquiry, the NCC boss said it reflects the commission’s strategic mission
and version to ensure regulatory excellence through effective regulatory
processes and also signposts the Commissions’ consultative approach to all its
regulatory initiatives.
‘‘The regulation being reviewed was vital to ensuring a fair and competitive
market and also has impact on balancing the fluid communications market in
Nigeria.
‘‘As the first instrument, the Annual Operating Levy
Regulations, ensures that all licensees are properly and equitably assessed for
the annual levy as well as meeting both statutory and regulatory
expectations. This review will bring the
regulations in line with current realities and sustain the enviable
contributions of the communications sector to the country’s DGP.
‘‘The second instrument, the Frequency Spectrum Pricing Regulations, is a vehicle that
enables the Commission meet its mandate of assigning the scarce national resource in an equitable
manner, also ensures that frequency spectrum are assigned and managed in a way
that ensures fair pricing and efficient deployment of attendant services.
‘‘For NCC, the inquiry is precursor to the Commission’s
current drive to ensure efficiency in spectrum management and the unveiling of next generation services
through varied enablers. It is in that regard that the Commission issued a Spectrum Trading Guidelines in 2018, to
ensure frequency spectrum is
readily available to licensees through
an effective process.’’
He charged
participants in the meeting to make their contributions freely and raise issues
that will assist the Commission in developing and issuing regulatory instruments that will continually contribute
to the development of the industry and sustain its positive contributions to
the nation’s economy, expressing hope that the review would ensure effective
and efficient utilization of frequency spectrum and also ensure fair
approach to management of finance in the
industry in the near future.
Earlier in her address, the Director Legal and Regulatory
Services of the Commission, Ms. Josephine Amuwa said the objective of the public inquiry was
to secure the buy-in of all stakeholders and ensure the efficiency of the regulatory
instruments when implemented.
She explained that the Commission decided to review the Annual Operating Regulations 2014
and the Frequency Pricing Regulations
2004 to ensure that it regulatory
instruments issued are abreast with
developments in the industry.
According to Amuwa, the Annual Operating Levy Regulations
review will look at the current
licensing structure and ensure that all the spectra of licensees will be properly covered.
Another key part o
the review is to clarify and clearly
outline the benchmarks for assessment.
This she said will not only ensure regulatory certainty but
further entrench transparency in the process.
On the other hand, the review of the second regulation, the
Frequency Spectrum (Fees and Pricing) Regulations is expected to provide more
guidelines on the parameter for determination of proper fees and pricing of
spectrum.
This will also make adequate provisions for different
spectrum licensing processes and their assessment parameters.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com