ATCON Calls for Effective Spectrum Management in Telecoms
The Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has called on the telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to consider spectrum management and allocation as utmost priority, in order to create enabling environment for network expansion in the telecoms sector. ATCON made the call at its annual general meeting (AGM), which held in Lagos recently, where it highlighted other issues bedeviling the telecoms sector. ATCON President, Olusola Teniola, challenged the NCC to ensure more efficient allocation of spectrum resources, which, according to him, “are scarce resources to drive telecoms service delivery.” “On this, the issue of spectrum trading comes to mind. We are awaiting NCC’s directive on the Spectrum Trading proposal, which it is currently working on, and we believe it will revive redundant licences and help deepen access to telecoms services across the country,” Teniola said. Other issues raised at the AGM, were the inability of telecoms operators to access foreign exchange (Forex), and the difficulties experienced by operators to collocate telecoms services through infrastructure sharing. According to Teniola, the inability to access forex by the telecoms operators, would stunt telecoms growth, which has been contributing about 9 per cent to the country Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He stated that the infrastructure already deployed by the telecoms companies, especially in the area of base stations deployment, was grossly inadequate for operators and “that is what has informed the poor infrastructure-sharing adoption, which was long initiated by the NCC.”
He also noted the foreign direct investment (FDI) into the telecoms sector has been put on hold, since operators find it absolutely difficult to access dollar to import equipment for network expansion.
Speaking on the challenges of forex, Teniola said: “Forex is a big issue. It is even our biggest problem now. A lot of us have to even terminate certain services and put on hold certain expansion projects as a result of our inability to access forex.” He said while ATCON has made a position paper on the challenges facing its members and how they could stifle the growth of telecoms sector, which has become an enabler of the entire economy in Nigeria, “We are also planning to get the audience of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to remove Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector from the list of 41 items denied direct access to forex from CBN.”