Nigerian Telecommunications And Ict Law Newsletter.may

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ICT Stakeholders in Nigeria Canvass Local Content Policy in Information/Communications Technology Sector May 2009 Vol. 13: Issue #3

Domestic stakeholders in Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector are canvassing the need for the Federal Government to encourage Local Content Initiative and enhance broadband infrastructures in the country. According to the group, the Federal Government of Nigeria must adopt the local content policy to drive the economy. The ICT sector of the economy is a key driver. Nigeria has in the last 10 years made appreciable impact in the field of telecommunications with the licensing of digital mobile licence in 2001 to telecoms operators for the provision of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Unified Access Service license (UASL) in 2006. While the country boasts of over 62 million connect lines, not much progress has been replicated in information technology (IT), especially, hardware and software. It is opined by the ICT lobby in Nigeria that Nigeria's severe shortage of IT skills and personnel necessary for taking advantage of new and emerging technologies in the

information society cannot be remedied unless the government adopts a local content policy. There is a severe shortage of IT personnel in Nigeria that a number of the multinational companies look abroad to recruit their nationals as expatriates. While there has been astronomical growth within mobile telephony and increasing computer penetration, software development and critical broadband connectivity in Nigeria are very low. Nigeria does not have the requisite broadband infrastructure that can deliver efficient high-speed internet access that is necessary for ICT competitiveness in the global marketplace. Broadband infrastructure are necessary for affordable internet connectivity, business process outsourcing, software development, and IT skills development. The problem is exacerbated by Nigeria’s educational system which is not suited to produce the required ICT manpower. Indeed, evidence shows that while there are some efforts to train personnel, little progress is being made in ICT applications such as tele-medicine, teleagriculture, e-education, e-payments, ebanking, e-government, e-commerce and other tele- and e-systems. In fact, there is little effort to make Nigeria an outsourcing destination like India

©Blackfriars LLP 2009. All rights reserved. This document is for general guidance only. Definitive advice should be sought from counsel if required. Blackfriars LLP is a Nigerian law firm with a representative office in Toronto, Canada.

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While emerging technologies such as VSAT, Wi-Fi, WiMax, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Next Generation Networks (NGN) have tried to bridge the technology gap, these technologies still need to operate on a backbone infrastructure which is presently inadequate. Infrastructure backbone is as important as the problem Nigeria faces today is traceable to the absence of national backbone from the days of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), the first national operator. However, with the planned commercial take-off in 2010 of Glo-1 and MainOne international submarine cables by Globacom and Main Street Technologies Limited, respectively, the problem of backbone infrastructure in Nigeria may be significantly resolved. It is expected that when these cables berth in Nigeria, there will be enough capacity to crash bandwidth cost from the present $5000 per megabyte to as low as $500 per megabyte.

Ms. Clara Ndive Tel: +234 802 220 4755 Email: [email protected] Fax: +1 646 536 8978

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©Blackfriars LLP 2009. All rights reserved. This document is for general guidance only. Definitive advice should be sought from counsel if required. Blackfriars LLP is a Nigerian law firm with a representative office in Toronto, Canada.