Protocol

On behalf of the Board of Trustee, The executive Council and the entire members of ALTON, we congratuate the Association of  Telecom Companies of Nigerian for putting together this special event on Regulation in the indusrty. i also join in wishing you a seccussful AGM holding after this ever later today.

We hope that this forum will address some of the internal challenges that we face as an industry and also profer solution to the external issues facing the industry.

ALTON as an Association holds the Nigeria Communications Commission in very high esteem, we see our Regulator as partners in progress, and with one common objective, which is The development and progress of Telecommunications in Nigeria.

Today, the NCC remains a good reference point as an efficient Government parastal and if many of our Government agencies and institutions would  function and perform like the NCC, our public service will be better and Government will have better efficiency in service delivery.

Though you are sometime very hard on the operators, however, such hardline, when occasion demands has helped to stair the industry in the right direction, this has placed us as operators on very high pedestal and by extension, we are able to meet continuously the demand of the consumers in the market place.

I will like to seize this opportunity to reiterate the need for our industry to be protected from issues that posses major threat to the sustainance of the growth and development of the industry, issues such as:

Multiple Taxation and Regulation by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal, State and Local Governments and their indiscriminate closusure of sites and seizure of telecom workers and equipment in the name of internal generated revenue.

We need special protection for telecommunication infrastructure and operations as critical national infrastructure  to ring fence  industry from local & state government interventions

We need to accord telecommunication network and operations the legal status of critical national infrastructure.

And to accord due protection of telecommunication site and equipment and facilitate Legislation to streamline the acquisition, ownership and retention of land for telecommunications purposes.

Our Association has embarked on an industry study on the Socio-Economic Impact of Telecommunication Operation in Nigeria using an internationally reputed research company along with local resources.

We believe that in spite of the apparent gains of telecom operations in Nigeria, there is still a lot more to be done for Nigerian populace to derive the full benefits of ICT. While all the achievements to date are noteworthy; when compared to other developed economies, Nigeria is still sadly lagging behind. For Nigeria to be competitive in a world where competitiveness is determined by knowledge, the necessary policies, laws and regulations; the enabling environment must be created to maximize private sector investment in the ICT sector. While investment in the sector is significant, government actions are increasingly becoming a disincentive. To reverse this trend, government has to be presented with empirical evidence that will show the following amongt other things:

1. Clear, indisputable statistics of the sector’s contribution to the economy. (as statistics which are currently available are mostly based on conjecture).
2. Details of the negative impact of government’s action and inaction on the development of the sector.
3. The negative effects of high cost of doing business in Nigeria, especially as it relates to telecommunications.
4. The need for focused policy direction, with definite timelines for the attainment of stated goals.

More information about the study will be provided at the appropriate time.

Policy Support for Industry

The industry is confronted with a number of other issues and challenges, we call for more cooperation with our regulator. ALTON on our side believe that your work becomes easier and the industry better if we work together towards a self regulated industry, we shall continue to present our position on issues of common interest to all for the progress of the industry. We urge you to take advantage of our knowledge and expertise as network operators.

We would welcome more regular interaction between us to address matters that borders on our common interest, and proffer solution to common industry problems.

in addition, there is a need for active stakeholder engagement – the promotion of a genuine peer review mechanism between industry and regulator to actively shape policy, legislative & regulatory frameworks will go a long way to help.

Human Captal Developent

The time has come for us to address the issuesof human capital challenge tht we have as an industry. There is a need for local knowledge proper knowledge and technology transfer, we need to develop our middle level manpower to guarantee the future of the industry. where are the fittres, where are the riggers, where are the cable plant technicians, where are the fibre slliceing specialists. These are specialized skills that are not, high-level Engineers, but they are critical to the workings of an industry like ours.

Example;

Engineering assembly, need to have a combination of tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 as members of this assembly

Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricians, Motor mechanics, Cable plant technicians, microwave technicians, Riggers, etc.

Most of the Jobs done by some expatriates are Jobs for middle level skills, but because we don’t have them, some Companies bring in these skills as expatriates..

Our industry must address this and as stakeholders, we must begin to address the issues before it begins Manpower is requireds to hinder our knowledge base.

I wish us a successful deliberation today.

Thank you.