Sustained investments required to deepen telecommunications service penetration in the country is being threatened by delays in the passage of the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Bill by the National Assembly, amid rising cases of theft and vandalism of equipment owned by mobile operators, market observers say.
The bill, when passed into law, is expected to criminalise any act of vandalism against Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures, since they would then be classified as CNI.
The telecoms sector has so far attracted over N6.4 trillion ($40 billion) in invest-ments, 13 years after its liberalisation, according to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
Market analysts are however suggesting that investors are already raising questions about the country, in view of its somewhat harsh business climate.
According to them, government’s delay in passing the bill into law is counter-productive, as telecommunications has since become fundamental and a most reliable public infrastructure in the country. Osondu Nwokoro, director of regulatory affairs and special projects, Airtel Nigeria, has however warned that mobile operators might be compelled to slow down on investments in the country if there were constant threats to infrastructure, amidst the raft of multiple taxes and regulation, power constraints and the generally unfriendly business environment.
In view of this, Funmi Onajide, general manager, corporate affairs, MTN Nigeria, has implored the government to pursue to a logical conclusion, legislation and policy that will accord the status of CNI to telecommunications infrastructure, in order to ensure adequate protection.
“This will stimulate competition and ensure that national growth objectives are achieved”, Onajide added.
The number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is estimated at about 30,000. This figure is grossly inadequate to meet the communications needs of over 130 million active mobile subscribers in the country.
BusinessDay gathered that about 2 percent to 3 percent of Nigeria’s BTS are shut down at any point in time, due to vandalism, resulting in a loss of about $50 million to $100 million every year.
Telcos have continued to raise alarm over the persistent willful and illegal obstruction of sending and delivering communication services, arising from the sealing of telecoms BTS across the entire country, by various persons, including firms, organisations, communities, individuals, public office holders, federal, state, and local government agencies among others.
“Telecoms infrastructure should be seen as critical equipment just like the oil pipelines, as well as PHCN and NITEL (Nigerian Telecommunications Limited) facilities”, said Osondu. According to him, “once it is seen as such, no ministry, department or agency will shut down base stations at will, which in most cases; have adverse effects on the quality of service.”
Dubem Arah, a market analyst, who works for the Financial Deriavatives Company, is however of the view that the current state of security for telecommunications infrastructure is not encouraging for any potential investor.
This situation is worrisome, considering that Nigeria still requires additional investments to accelerate broadband infrastructure deployment in order to meet the target of five-fold increase in broadband penetration by 2018, industry observers say.
Says Arah, “vandalism on telecoms infrastructure occasionally occurs in error, during excavation, but for the most part, it is perpetrated through acts of sabotage and theft of equipment”.
In 2013, the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) noted that it had recorded about 1, 200 fibre cuts in few months. “These acts of vandalism are however common in rural areas of the country, which are characterised by high levels of poverty and unemployment, said Arah, further adding that the low low standard of living and lack of opportunity leads many youth to revert to such criminal actions to extort and exploit telecom operators. “The actions of vandals create significant expenses for operators in terms of repair and replacement costs, lost revenue, and also ‘appeasement’ fees”, he further added.
A member of the House of Representatives Committee on Communications, who pleaded anonymity, told BusinessDay that both arms of the National Assembly are working to ensure that the bill is passed “if not before the end of this year, hopefully before the end of the Goodluck Jonathan administration”.
According to him, the NASS is waiting for critical inputs from the telecoms regulator, the NCC and some stakeholders in the country.
Tony Ojobo, director, public affairs at the NCC, described the continued vandalism of telecoms infrastructure as not only degrading quality of telecoms service, but constituting a massive threat to national security. “The commission, as part of its mandate of ensuring the protection and safety of telecommunications infrastructure, draws the attention of the general public to the express provisions of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provision) Act CAP.
C39 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which make it an offence to willfully and unlawfully damage telecommunication works; or otherwise prevent or obstruct the sending or delivering of a communication by means of telecommunication”, he stated.
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