Dealing with bad connection or no connection at all has become a re-occurring trend in Nigeria, and in the heavily tech-reliant world we live in, this can be detrimental.
Mobile Network operators in the country are under increasing pressure to bring coverage even to the remotest areas, and with mobile technologies penetrating almost every aspect of modern life, access to or the lack of a network connection can have profound social and economic implications.
Solving the issue of not being able to get a mobile connection in rural areas is of course a much bigger.
Over 660,000 rural dwellers in South-western Nigeria have just been recently connected to telephony services for the first time by Odu’atel through subsidies provided by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).
Inhabitants of the 111 communities in Igbo Olodumare area of Ondo State previously had no access to any form of communication services.
Omobola Johnson, Nigeria’s Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), at the inauguration of the project said the Nigerian government is committed to ensuring that ‘un-served and under-served communities in Nigeria are connected to ICT services’.
In the next phase of implementation, the Minister said the USPF plans to support the deployment of more than 200 Base Transceiver stations (BTS) across the country to enable over 300 communities nationwide with an estimated population of over I.65 million gain access to ICT services.
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“The Federal Government of Nigeria established the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to facilitate extension of telecommunications services to under-served and un-served communities,” the ICT ministry said in a statement.
Recent reports by the National Communication Commission (NCC) suggest that mobile penetration in the country could hit the 100 per cent mark by end of the year however, when compared to the likes of South Africa with a penetration rate of over 133 per cent; the Nigerian government clearly has a lot of ground to cover.
“Growth in active lines has slowed dramatically and margins have narrowed whereas the sale of internet subscriptions by Telecoms operators increased by 33 per cent y/y in July to 67.2 million,” said Gregory Kronsten, Head of Macro Economics and Fixed Income Research, FBN Capital.
Perhaps, an introduction of a national roaming scheme which would mean operators sharing their networks to ensure better customer service and more widely available mobile connection as people would be able to switch to a different network as and when needed.
As expectations of operators’ services continue to rise, both within and outside rural areas, it’s likely the benefits of sharing infrastructure will increasingly appeal to operators – and their purse strings.
By sharing mobile infrastructure using small cell architecture technology, specifically Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), operators can extend their coverage and capacity into areas they normally couldn’t reach, and they can do so at far lower cost than deploying traditional macro-cells.
Nigeria remains Africa’s largest mobile market with more than 125 million subscribers and a market penetration rate approaching 75 percent. The Nigerian market also retains one of the highest average revenue per user rates in Africa along with South Africa and Egypt.
DAN OJABO
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