The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has exhorted the nation’s telecommunications purveyors to adopt a communal approach to infrastructure, thereby diminishing operational expenditures.
In the wake of declarations by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) advocating for a cost-reflective pricing structure after a span of eleven years, the regulatory body has issued this mandate.
Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, articulated during the second instalment of the West African Telecoms Infrastructure Summit and Exhibition, held in Lagos over the past weekend, that collaborative efforts within the telecommunications sphere could result in reduced costs and augmented service quality.
Represented by Mr. Victor Adoga, the Head of Next Generation Technology and Standards at the NCC, Mr. Maida proposed that interim solutions include consortia between the public and private sectors, infrastructure investment funds, and avant-garde financial constructs such as Infrastructure as a Service.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC proclaimed, “Presently, we can proudly claim over 219 million mobile subscribers and an expanding population adept in technology, keen to exploit digital innovations.
Nonetheless, our significant growth has been accompanied by challenges. Disparities in service provision, infrastructural shortfalls, and occasional regulatory ambiguities have impeded our advancement.
Each obstacle, however, has also unveiled prospects for development and ingenuity.”
Subsequently, Mr. Maida counselled the operators to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to refine network administration, forecast maintenance requisites, and bolster customer support through mechanization and sophisticated analytics.
He accentuated, “An additional tactic is the cultivation of intelligent infrastructure. As urban areas progress towards greater intelligence, it is imperative that telecommunications infrastructure evolves concurrently to underpin a diverse spectrum of smart city functions, ranging from traffic coordination systems to public safety mechanisms.”
