IMPACT OF TELECOMS 57 YEARS AFTER

has disrupted the classical plain old telephony services that have controlled the telecoms industry for more than a century.

“Now we can render universal services over Internet Protocol (IP) technology much better than we deemed possible in 1960. With this reality, it opens up many exciting areas for the rendering of applications and productive tools that makes the introduction of new voice applications relevant. Instant messaging and other OTT unified messaging platforms especially on smart phones and other portable devices, create a new paradigm that telecom operators will have to contend with,” Teniola said.

“The challenge is that OTT business models are based on advertising revenue and not on minutes of usage. The advent of OTT players offering free telecoms services, while riding on the network of legacy telecoms operators, is an interesting development that the regulators around the world will have to manage. Proffering solution as to how Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will further advance technology development in Nigeria,” he said.

He said machine learning and AI are very powerful technologies that would determine the way and manner Nigerian companies can service their customers. According to him, the social media activities and the speed at which news travels, is digital in nature, virtual in reality and massive in data science.

“IoT is the enabler for all these and requires significant investments in low latency networks to connect and properly process the volumes of transactions and events from these devices,” Teniola added.

The rise of technology startups Teniola, who commended the recent rise in technology startups in Nigeria, explained that it would boost technology development, if given the adequate attention. Nigeria had in the past, missed out in several global evolutions, but insisted that should Nigeria invest in startups and get the initiative right, the country shall be on the cusp of great things.

“We however still need to create an enabling environment that promotes a true startup ecosystem and our financial system needs to change to include more risk friendly criteria to allow failures to happen to find the big winners, otherwise, Nigeria might suffer another brain drain of youth talent to more friendly countries,” he added, stressing the need for government to restructure the education needs of the country, in order to address science technology deficit that exists in the Nigerian society.

Stakeholders’ position Speaking from the perspective of a regulator, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, has said the telecoms sector has contributed immensely to Nigeria’s economic growth, despite the challenges. Speaking at the Nigerian Investment Forum during the just concluded ITU Telecom World Conference in Busan, South Korea, Danbatta said investments in the telecoms sector had grown from a mere $50 million in 2001 to about $70 billion, and reassured foreign investors of safety in their investments, since most of the investments were Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), that needed full protection.

According to Danbatta, “The NCC is assuring the investors that our doors are open and that we will do whatever we can within the regulatory mandate assigned to us to ensure that their investment is safe and secure.”