Tracking this ugly monster

TELECOMMUNICATIONS services in Nigeria have in the last couple of months worsened, raising doubts about the country's teledensity growth status. Telecom consumers in the country have in recent times witnessed very poor quality of service from virtually all network operators especially the GSM service providers, the worst since the telecom revolution of 2001.

A number of factors have been attributed to this unfortunate development ranging from congested network occasioned by incessant promos embarked upon by network operators, low network capacity, poor security, equipment vandalisation to unstable power supply.

In defending this disturbing scenario, operators have not failed to admit that the biggest challenge faced by network operators in Nigeria is unstable power supply. This claim is indisputable, as a visit to any base station shows that it has become inevitable for every network operator in Nigeria to have a generating set as a back up to public power supply if such operator wants to remain in business.

There is no gainsaying the truth that Nigeria's overall ICT development is enormously dependent on the availability of power. This is true because history has shown that the country's level of power consumption reflects its level of development.
Experts believe that without a solid telecommunication infrastructure like power, Nigeria will not attract the necessary local and foreign investment to build the country's economy. This is against the backdrop that telecommunications offers the country the best platform to move onto a higher developmental plane.

It is rather sad that a country considered unarguably, Africa's fastest growing telecommunications market is allowing itself to be weighed down by infrastructural problem like power. The telecommunications revolution witnessed in the country in the last six or so years has no doubt brought about unprecedented growth in the nation's teledensity as well as a boost in the economy.

Like the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) once said, “telecommunications is the key to unlock the potentials of this great nation, and the future remains very promising”. But does the future remain promising in the present circumstance where unstable power supply has become a barrier to the realization of the industry's prospects.

ICT TODAY believes that unless something proactive is done to address the country's lingering power crisis, efforts at bridging the digital divide and meet up with the UN set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will come to naught.
There is need therefore for Government, telecom operators and the Universal Services Provision Fund (USPF) to form a synergy and solve this power challenge once and for all. There are calls already in some quarters for operators to appoint private power firms to build power plants for their (networks) business.

This magazine believes strongly that this indeed is the time to encourage private investors in the power sector. Or in the alternative, greater attention should be paid to the deployment of renewable energy sources to help tackle this power problem immediately.
This poor quality of telecom services should stop now; enough is enough.