New Telegraph

Telecoms: Embracing year of uncertainty

For the telecommunications industry, the year 2020 ended on a tensed note. Government’s directive on NIN-SIM integration as well as the suspension of SIM sales ushered in 2021 filled with many unanswered questions. Will Nigerians be able to meet the February 9 deadline? What happens to aged phone users who cannot go out to enroll for NIN? Will government take good its threat of blocking unlinked lines? Answers to these questions can only be seen as the year unfolds. SAMSON AKINTARO reports

As Nigeria and other countries of the world continue to grapple with the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), telecommunications and indeed the whole gamut of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) will continue to play critical roles in how people live, work, and survive this year. Incidentally in Nigeria, it may be the year many Nigerians will lose their right to use technology to communicate or work if the government’s threat is anything to go by.

As of October 2020, active mobile subscriptions in the country stood at 207 million. The sector, until December when the suspension of sale and registration of new SIM was announced by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, continued to record additional subscriptions in millions each month. However, that is bound to change this year as the suspension of SIMs sale is still in force as of the time of filing this report.

Although the government said the suspension was to allow a ‘comprehensive audit’ of the SIM registration database when the audit will be completed and sale of SIMs resumed remain uncertain.

Mandatory integration

In what became a landmark development that came towards the end of the year 2020, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy ordered the suspension of sales and registration of Subscribers Identity Module (SIM) cards in the country to allow proper auditing of the SIM registration database.

A week later, the Federal Government further directed that all subscribers in the country must provide a valid National Identification Number (NIN) to update their SIM registration records.

The submission of NIN by subscribers, the government said, was to take place within two weeks, from December 16, 2020, and end by 30 December 2020. According to a statement released after an emergency meeting of key stakeholders in the telecommunications industry, which was summoned by the minister, after the two weeks deadline, “all SIMs without NINs are to be blocked from the networks.”

The meeting where the decision was taken was said to have in attendance the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as well as the CEOs and Management staff of all service providers in the industry. “At the meeting, the need to consolidate the achievements of last year’s SIM registration audit and improve the performance and sanity of the sector was exhaustively discussed and all stakeholders agreed that urgent drastic measures have now become inevitable to improve the integrity and transparency of the SIM registration process,” the statement read.

However, the uproar that trailed the pronouncement forced the government to extend the deadline for the integration of NIN with the SIM registration database by six weeks, from December 30 to February 9, 2021. The extension is to allow Nigerians yet to enrol for the NIN to do so.

In addition, a three weeks extension was also granted to subscribers who already have their NIN to link the same with their SIM from December 30, 2020, to January 19, 2021. With just one month to the February 9 deadline fixed by the, and millions of subscribers still finding it difficult to be enrolled for the National Identity Number (NIN) amidst reports of extortions by enrolment officials, it is uncertain that the over 200 million mobile lines will be linked by the date.

Again, stakeholders, while condemning the ‘fire brigade’ approach to the exercise, have expressed wor-ry over the fate of the aged who may not have the agility to go for the NIN enrolment. Will the government go ahead to block unlinked lines, which may run into millions? Only time will tell.

Broadband penetration

Nigeria last year launched another National Broadband Plan (NBP 2020-2025) with a target of achieving 70 per cent broadband penetration by the year 2025. While the implementation of the Plan started last year, not much was done last year as the COVID-19 restrictions inhibited several projects in the year. Notwithstanding, the country recorded a significant increase in broadband penetration in the year. According to data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), between January and October last year, a total of 15.5 million new broadband users were connected. In the 12 months of 2019, a total of 12 million broadband users were added by the telecom operators. With two months’ figures, November and December, yet to be released, the number of connections this year has surpassed that of last year. From 72.2 million in December 2019, the number of broadband users in the country rose to 87.7 million in October this year. This brought the penetration level to 45.93 per cent from 37.80 per cent at the end of 2019. As the implementation of the NBP 2020-2025 is to commence properly this year, it is expected that more Nigerians will be connected to fast-speed internet in 2021. This, however, may also be affected by the government’s plan to block lines not linked with the NIN by February. If this is enforced, many Nigerians currently on broadband subscriptions will be disconnected.

Eyes on 28 states

After a turnaround that saw seven states slashed Right of Way (RoW) charges for telecommunications operators last year, all eyes will be on the remaining 28 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to follow suit this year. According to Panatami, an agreement to comply with the N145 per linear meter recommended by the National Executive Council (NEC) was signed by 34 out of the 36 state governors early last year. Right of Way (RoW) charges are government levies imposed on telecom companies and internet service providers (ISPs) to lay fibre-optic cables along state roads. The reduction of these charges is expected to significantly drive down the cost of internet access in the country With states like Ekiti, Imo, Katsina, Plateau, Kwara, Kaduna, and Anambra already toeing this line, 28 more states are expected to comply with the agreement any moment from now. While the industry players had last year expressed worry that only seven out of the 36 states had announced compliance with the N145, and in some cases, a complete waiver of the RoW charges, Pantami, assured that the agreement to slash the RoW charges is binding on all the 36 states of the federation.

Last line

The government’s move to properly identify all phone users through the NIN database is, no doubt, a step in the right direction to address the security situation in the country. However, the handling of the exercise is raising huge concerns and may thwart the progress of the country’s telecoms if the managers fail to toe the right path.

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