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FG connects 111 communities to telephones

By on November 12, 2014

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has inaugurated one of the several Base Transceiver Stations deployed across the South-West region by Odu’atel through subsidies provided by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) at Igbo Olodumare in Ondo State.

Through the commencement of the intervention and inauguration of the BTS, 111 communities with an estimated population of 664,500 people, hitherto without communication, were connected to telephony services.

Johnson, who made the first voice call at the inauguration, reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that unserved and underserved communities in Nigeria are connected to Information and Communication Technology services.

She said that in the next implementation phase, the USPF planned to support the deployment of more than 200 BTS across the country. “This will enable more than 300 communities, with an estimated population of I.65 million, have access to ICTs when the phase is completed,” she said.

The Federal Government established the Universal Service Provision Fund to facilitate extension of telecommunications services to underserved and unserved communities.

The law establishing the USPF i.e. Nigerian Communications Act 2003, empowers it to promote widespread availability and usage of network services throughout Nigeria by encouraging the installation of network facilities and the provision of network services to institutions and to unserved and underserved areas and groups in Nigeria.

Johnson, who is the Chairman of USPF, added that the USPF was initiating various programmes and projects to facilitate the deployment of ICT infrastructure and services, which are designed to extend ICT and other telecommunications services to people living in rural areas, where operators are unlikely to provide services.

According to the minister, one of the programmes designed by the USPF to extend telecommunications services is Accelerated Mobile Phone Expansion, which ensures the extension of mobile telephony services to unserved and underserved communities.

The AMPE programme is implemented in collaboration with network operators. The Base Transceiver Station is one project under the AMPE programme through which the USPF provides subsidies to operators to extend telecommunications services to unserved communities.

Johnson said that while it contributed to the tremendous growth of the telecommunications industry witnessed in the last decade, the Federal Government, as part of the transformation agenda, would continue to focus on an estimated 40 million Nigerians that still lack access to ICT services.

She noted that in order to strategically address the ICT needs of these people, the USPF had, based on a Geographical Information System study, created ICT Gap Clusters of areas that are unserved or underserved. Each

Cluster has the requisite attributes – population estimates, size, major towns, main economic activities/occupation, institutions, vegetation type etc. that would assist USPF in designing projects that address peculiar ICT needs of each community. In addition, operators/Implementers will utilise the information in creating the appropriate service-mix for each cluster.

The ICT gap clusters is an innovative way of ensuring that all communities benefit from the immense opportunities that ICT brings and are able to effectively participate in the new digital economy.

Through the utilisation of the ICT gap cluster model, the USPF plans to ensure that universal coverage is achieved in the next two to three years.

In his remarks, the Secretary USPF, Abdullahi Maikano, said that the inaugurated Base Transceiver Station was among the very many initiatives of Universal Service Provision Fund towards supporting the transformation agenda of government, “through the extension of telecommunications services to rural and underserved areas across the country.”

He emphasised that the BTS projects were being implemented in collaboration with licensed operators in order to ensure sustainability of the services, “so that the people for whom the facilities are provided will continue to enjoy uninterrupted services.”

Maikano pledged that the USPF would continue to remain in the forefront in executing government’s Policy on Universal Access and Universal Service to ensure equitable socio-economic development of the country.

 

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