KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY THE EXECUTIVE VICE
CHAIRMAN OF THE NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION, PROFESSOR UMAR GARBA DANBATTA,
FNSE, FRAES, FNAEng, AT THE FOURTH
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY
FORUM, AT THE COLOSSUS HOTEL, OPEBI, IKEJA
LAGOS.
5TH OCTOBER, 2023
PROTOCOLS
Gentlemen of the Press, Distinguished Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am profoundly honoured to be invited to deliver the Keynote Speech by
this great institution to its fourth Telecommunications Sector
Sustainability Forum themed; ‘Mainstreaming Data Centres in the
Nigerian Digital Economy’
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) by the provisions of
the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA 2003) has as part of its
responsibility, the regulation of the Telecommunications Sector, as a
critical driver of Digital Economy in Nigeria.
Today’s event is aimed at providing a platform to enable stakeholders
share perspectives on the opportunities, challenges and impact that
operations of Data Centre services hold within the Nigeria’s Digital
Economy.
The evolving primacy of data, encapsulated in the in the slogan – Data is
the new oil – has continued to resonate globally with increasing intensity
in the context of the emerging digital economy. This is why it has
become a subject of special consideration by regimes, requiring
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appropriate structures and frameworks to truly tap and optimize the
opportunities provided by this new order. I must specially congratulate
you on this all important theme for this year’s event. Data centre
services, no doubt, hold the keys to the ultimate crystallization of this
new line of thinking within the ICT sector and by extension to the greater
national economy of nations in so many ways. One of such is the added
impetus towards improving the security and reliability of the nation’s
digital infrastructure. The nature and functional model of data centres
with special regard to its centralized architecture, with compelling
assurance provides greater guarantee against various malicious attacks
and unauthorized access to sensitive information. This is in addition to
the efficiency engendered by the robust economies of scale through
critical resources shared and made available by Data Centres. Being
able to substantially underwrite some of our critical resource gaps such
as weak energy challenges, Operators within the Data Centre space
ensure that the well established and globally accepted tripods of
confidentiality, integrity and availability are so seamlessly provided for
uptake by users in the most economical way.
Recent developments point to the limitless treasure within this space.
Africa has recently assumed a new frontier and compelling destination
for global Big Tech players. These includes such giants as Google with
its Equiano subsea fibre cable spanning 15,000 km from Portugal to
South Africa with strategic landing points in Nigeria and Namibia and
expected to increase connectivity more than five-fold within Nigeria while
creating an expected 1.6m jobs. Also, Meta, the parent company of
Facebook, is equally at the threshold of launching its own subsea cable
called 2Africa in 2024 to connect 16 African countries at an estimated
cost of $1bn. It is targeted to generate close to $36bn of economic
output within 2 to 3 years of operation. While these no doubt portends
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significant socio-economic impacts for Nigeria, it brings to fore the
debate around digital sovereignty and the need for national policy and
regulatory frameworks to further localize traffic and data. The Federal
Government of Nigeria has taken laudable steps to encourage and
support data centres services in the country in its drive to ensure data
sovereignty. This is encapsulated in the National Digital Economy Policy
Strategy (NDEPS) Pillar #3 on Solid Infrastructure which states that;
The Government will Promote the Development and Deployment of
robust and scalable data center infrastructure.
It therefore goes to show that these centres, and their potential to attract
foreign investment remain massive. The global data centre market is
worth billions of dollars, and Nigeria is well-positioned to attract a fair
share of this investment. By providing a reliable and secure environment
for the services they offer within a well nurtured policy and regulatory
framework, Nigeria represents an attractive destination for more
investment in data centre services and operations. The implication of
such investments on jobs in the construction, operation, and
maintenance of these data centres can only be imagined.
With the commencement of the implementation of the African
Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the role and criticality of Data
centres become increasing overwhelming. This is underscored by the
kind of efficiency derivable when critical resources are shared at costs
far significantly smaller than the actual costs of setting up such
resources from scratch. It therefore provides a veritable platform for
greater productivity and the attendant national competitiveness for
businesses and public sector entities to effectively harness the
opportunities to be unlocked from the estimated $1.2 Trillion latent
treasure within the AfCFTA continental block through its 1.3 billion
people.
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The NCC has long recognized the imperatives around the sharing of
critical resources within the telecoms industry, particularly in relation to
recent engagements on regional roaming with the ECOWAS. This is
underscored by the Commission’s recent guidelines and framework,
leading to emergence of collocation and infrastructure sharing entities
such as tower companies that rest on this premise. The Commission has
also concluded its framework, and further facilitated the test run on
national roaming and active infrastructure sharing to further galvanize
efficient roll out through a well coordinated network optimization and
expansion strategies.
The Place of Broadband in the Ecosystem:
The NCC recognizes the place of Broadband infrastructure and
technology in interconnectivity and its impact on national development,
increased content and social inclusion. Policy and regulatory initiatives
had been geared towards public investment in broadband backbone
networks through harmonization of RoW charges and the allocation of
more spectrum for existing mobile and 5G technologies.
With the recognition of the new place of data within the ecosystem, the
Commission had proactively taken steps leading to:
An active functioning market that brought about competition and
improved quality of service, with appropriate regulatory measures to
guide the industry in determining a cost based transmission trunk link
rates and mobile access networks. We have also carried out extensive
assessment of the broadband value chain, including the analysis of
market features such as ecosystem mapping, pricing, technology,
regulatory climate and competition.
These efforts have led to reduction in data prices in the mobile sector
including rapid expansion of non-voice service portfolios that created
new revenue streams for network and data centre operators.
Infrastructure outsourcing and collocation that created a positive impact
on operators’ profitability with increased expansion to underserved rural
areas towards increased user experience and greater data capture.
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More spectrum release for 5G services to further lower costs of providing
mobile broadband services.
Additionally, the recent conclusion of the framework and licensing of
Mobile Virtual Network Operators represents another big bang in the
industry after the launch of GSM in 2001. This is expected to engender
greater expansion, more reach and additional choice to consumers in
addition to enhanced service uptake on Data Centre Operations. Digital
platforms are expected to rapidly expand and stimulate the digital
ecosystem across e-commerce, banking, education, entertainment,
health and government. There have also been increased rollout of Fibre
infrastructure across metropolitan areas, especially Fibre-to-Base
stations required to support the surge in bandwidth demand.
Clearly, Data Centre operators are not immune to the overwhelming
challenges confronting the industry that ranges from digital literacy, poor
power supply, multiple taxation and regulations at different levels of
government as well as the recent deregulation of the downstream
petroleum sector and the attendant subsidy removal, coupled with the
exchange rate harmonization.
The transformation in the Nigerian macro-economy underpinned by
developments in the broadband space such as subscriber growth,
improvements in digital literacy and the proliferation of relevant content,
all point to positive fundamentals for the Broadband Landscape in
Nigeria. These factors combined with the increasing global recognition of
broadband as a critical infrastructure and socio-economic tool for
national growth present an imperative for Nigeria to sharpen its focus on
broadband development and increasing support for Data Centre
Services in Nigeria.
Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to reiterate the fact that mainstreaming of data
centres require our collective efforts to take our own destiny in our hands
through individual and sectorial supplementary feeds and enabling
supports that ensures data centres not only operates to guarantee
national Digital sovereignty, but are able to prioritize contents reflecting
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our cultural norms, contexts and ideological values, while reaping the
attendant socio-economic benefits within the value chain.
The Commission will continue to facilitate and support its licensees, as
major stakeholders, to continue to explore additional frontiers of
expansion and greater opportunities for investment within the data
centre space, whilst also ensuring strict adherence to data protection
regulations.
Thank you.
Prof. U.G Danbatta, FNSE, FRAES, FAEng, FNIEEE
Executive Vice Chairman/CEO
Nigerian Communications Commission