Don't Miss

December 31 masts demolition deadline: Lagos, telcos strike deal

By BusinessNews Staff on December 8, 2013

The stand-off between the Lagos State government and telecoms operators over removal of masts and multiple taxes may have ended following a mediatory effort of the federal government.

Lagos had earlier given the operators up to December 31 to remove their masts from the states because of non compliance in erecting them.
A statement from ministry of communications said the minister Omobola Johnson brokered peace between Lagos and telcos because the disagreement was capable of further worsen network quality.
The deal will remove all the constraints to installation, rollout and deployment of base transmission stations (BTS) and fibre optic cable (OFC) in the state, the statement said.
“The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson and the Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) with some officials of ALTON struck a deal to end the long standing feud existing between them over spurious charges, levies, multiple taxation, harassment and forceful closure of BTS.
“After a closed door meeting at the State House over the weekend, the issues of multiple taxes, levies, decommissioned BTS and Right of Way (RoW) fees, factors which the operators say have been mitigating against quality of service in the state addressed dispassionately.”
“Also in attendance at the meeting were Commissioner of Science and Technology, Mr Biyi Mabadeje, Commissioner of Works, Mr Obafemi Hamzat and officials from Etisalat, Main One, MTN and Globacom”, the statement signed by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister, Efem Nkanga, said.
Operators had expressed concerns over the issue of decommissioned sites and others, arguing that these issues were making it difficult for them to rollout the much needed ICT infrastructure in Lagos state.
In his response, Governor Fashola reportedly said infrastructure rollout and deployment was in the best interest of residents of Lagos State, adding that it is not the wish of the state to prevent operators from rolling out.
It quoted governor as saying: “We need you to roll out probably more than you need it but we do not need it at the expense of our roads, or lives of the people. Infrastructure must be built to very high standards, for example, masts must be built with galvanised steel and not hollow pipes to prevent them from collapsing. You may find that sites that may have been decommissioned by UFRU probably did not meet these standards or had not paid up their levies. When badly build sites collapse, it is we who are left to pick up the pieces.”
Telcos, according to the statement, agreed with the governor and said there should be a standardised approach for excavating roads where no ducts existed. However, they said there were no telecoms masts in the state constructed with hollow piles, insisting that all telecoms masts built in the state by their members were built with galvanised steel.

[The Nation]

headline