By 
Social media giant Facebook is seeking to collaborate with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to boost national infrastructure connectivity in order to deepen digital culture for more than 200 million Nigerians.
Facebook, a leading global digital services provider, believes partnering with the regulator could enhance the country’s goal for affordable broadband access and deepen its agenda for digital economy. The Facebook team was in Abuja this week, led by its Network Investment Lead at Facebook Office in the United States, Ibrahima Ba.
Ba emphasized that infrastructure was central to making digital culture flourish, and Facebook believes investment in connectivity infrastructure was critical to making a digital economy viable. He told the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, that this belief underscored why Facebook had successfully invested in two connectivity projects in Edo and Ogun states connecting institutions and operators towers over a total stretch of 800 kilometers of fibre.
Its major communication and social platforms that include Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram ride on massive investment in robust connectivity, Ba added while asking the NCC to partner with it as the tech giant sees Nigeria with over 200 million people as a strategic market. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country.
Ba said Facebook sees opportunities for partnerships that could further expand the connectivity infrastructure across the country and wants the regulator to “facilitate further liberalisation of partnership and collaboration processes with stakeholders.” For Ba, connectivity gap that still exists in the country offers great opportunity for collaborations among stakeholders to further expand existing infrastructures. Increase in infrastructure will deepen broadband penetration; encourage the deployment of more diverse internet-enabled services requiring additional investments and the promotion of digital culture.
Danbatta commended Facebook for its market entry approach and its partnership with several operators licensed by the NCC. Danbatta who was represented by Deputy Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity at NCC, Edoyemi Ogoh, assured that the regulator was committed to infrastructure expansion to enhance better connectivity.
Ministry addressing RoWs, other glitches
He affirmed that NCC is aware of how central infrastructure is to the expansion of telecom services, and said that the realisation explained NCC’s adoption of the Open Access Model (OAM) and the licensing of infrastructure companies (Infracos) to help take fibre to the hinterland of Nigeria.
The NCC’s boss said that the recent re-designation of NCC’s supervising ministry as Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy by President Muhammadu Buhari is a testament to the desire of the Nigerian government to encourage more citizens to embrace digital culture.
Also, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has continued to demonstrate his commitment to tackling bottlenecks to infrastructure expansion. He cited the recent meetings between the minister, the commission and Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the governor of Ekiti State and chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) which focused on streamlining and standardizing Right of Way (RoW) charges as reinforcing government’s commitment to having a saner and more productive telecom sector.
NCC coming with ‘Dig Once Policy’
Ogoh revealed that the commission is finalising processes to institute the ‘Dig Once Policy’ that will encourage operators and other key players in infrastructure segment to have greater strategic collaboration in the laying of fibre especially in the context of the upcoming National Broadband Plan 2020-2025.
In the Facebook’s team were Erik Schmidt, Network Strategy Manager, Facebook Infrastructure; Adaora Ikenze, Head West Africa (Public Policy); Imran Abass, Partner Manager, Sub Sahara Africa; and Fargani Tambeayuk, Africa Public Policy Manager (Connectivity).
Deputy Director, Legal and Regulatory Services at NCC, Jerry Ugwu, thanked the team for their visit and assured that the commission was opened to collaborations.
