Telecommunications: more promises, less services

Once upon a time, there was an Access Gap Map prepared by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF). The map showed details of remote sites in the country or locations in not too distant environments where Telecommunications services were not available.

The Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 recognises these areas or groups in Section 113 as unserved, underserved areas or even underserved groups within a community. So, the Access Gap Map is not a psychedelic creation to demonstrate a pseudo readiness for action, but an ingenious interpretation of telecoms lack in order to simplify the resolution of what may seem an intractable problem.

Lack is the imaginary bridge between the rich and the poor, between the politicians with fat stomachs and their constituents with pencil figures, between the blessed and the accursed, between the high flyer and the ordinary fella struggling for the crumbs from the master’s table, and, in fact, between the pseudo elite who steals everything from the system by the wave of a biro, and the decent technocrat who watches in amazing horror the craftiness of the sons of men. Lack is not a bridge too far but a grotesque monster in our midst. A troubling reality!

Telecoms lack, which is what the Universal Service Provision Fund is designed to cure, is not just a Nigerian problem or a problem of developing countries alone.  The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says telecoms lack is a global problem and takes USPF as a crucial tool, alongside other mechanisms, to achieve universal access to telecommunications.

In America, it is called Universal Service Fund (USF) which has been described as a system of subsidies and fees designed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure access to telecommunications for all Americans. Whether you want to believe it or not,  there are still places in America where the government is working hard to provide quality telecoms services or even make services available!

From an early fervent operation at the time of birth, USPF has gone through the mire to seek a reincarnation at the present state of being. Which is why the story of the Access Gap Map became necessary at the beginning of this writeup, to show what was inherited and the intentionality of patriarchs of the system.

A source at USPF told this writer that the Access Gap Map still remains the major planning tool, giving direction to all their activities. While in 2019, 207 clusters of telecom needs existed, by 2022, the figure has come down to 97, meaning that quite some work is being done. The source informed that the plan of the Fund is to do a study every year to show how gaps are being closed or to even just expose areas where new gaps are being created as a result of telecoms facilities being decommissioned, for whatever reasons.

It was therefore reassuring when Mr. Yomi Arowosafe, USPF Secretary, said at an even in Lagos last week, that the Fund by 2030, will rollout an additional 1000 base transceiver stations. Expectedly, the stations will be sited in unreached and underserved areas where the people denied telecom services can have access to them. However, his optimism has little accommodation for the series of challenges the Fund has been through recently. It is expected that the intervention agency will have the needed funds to execute its plans and make some people happy by connecting them to the telecommunications national grid.

The unfortunate reality is that more telecom gaps are popping up everywhere. Even within cities, it is very common to experience very flaky services. The rural areas are worse off. It is more like a return to the days of yore when telecoms services were a rarity and reserved only for the big boys. Nobody prays for a return to that nightmare, not even this government which is showing some level of concerted efforts to deal with the situation.

Several industry sources confirmed that as of today, there are about 40,000 telecommunication towers carrying about 144,000 transceiver stations across the country. This is a far cry from the 80,000 towers which a former EVC once said were needed to power the telecommunications industry.  For a government that has promised to create a digital economy with the concomitant digital job opportunities, this doesn’t look good at all.

I am inclined to reason that this government is desirous of making noticeable interventions, just like the guy fighting a roaring fire and is ready to throw anything at it.  The efforts by the USPF is one such intervention. I was also reliably informed that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is prospecting a rollout of 2000 base stations in conjunction with some industry stakeholders which include operators. More will be said about this development.

However, speaking at the USPF programme in Lagos, Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, informed of the government’s audacious plan to build 7,000 telecommunications towers across the country in order to extend services to more of the country’s population.

There is so much that this connotes. The development means more money in the environment, more opportunities for connectivity and digital job opportunities that will be unleashed. Before anybody could talk about the government returning to telecom business, Tijani said the project would be done with private participation.

The minister explained that the project was approved at the Federal Executive Council of February 27, 2025, as part of  a broader strategy to bridge the digital divide and enhance connectivity in rural and underserved areas.

“The government has decided that if private capital cannot reach these areas, then we must step in and invest public funds in these towers to ensure our people have access,” Tijani said.

Another leg of Tijani’s plan is a $2bn fibre optics cable aimed at boosting broadband penetration in Nigeria. The minister is a tech geek who has a mind for very big ideas. At some point he had released a blueprint which, he envisaged, could mop up about 3m youth from different parts of the country for tech training.

While I will want to accept that the present government is doing things to deepen and grow the tech ecosystem, one will want to observe that some of these initiatives should have been undertaken by a well structured USPF except it is considered that the scale of implementation is beyond the intervention agency. So, we start from the scratch, tossing legitimate reason in the air, to build afresh as we always do. But bear in mind that the Ministry of Communications which is pursuing all these big ideas, is not a project implementer but a policy maker.

The other small matter, and this is from whispers in the industry. Quite a few people are of the opinion, that Minister Tijani is building castles in the air, requesting that time has come for him to climb down to reality and begin a proper implementation of some of his ideas that look quite grandiose.