The National Broadband plan 2013 – 2018, is gradually coming home to roost, as the plan is now getting to the final stages. This has, therefore, necessitated the foremost telecom regulator in Nigeria, The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to organise the initial stakeholders forum on the agenda for a cost based pricing for retail Broadband and data services, with the consultants, KPMG, delivering a paper on the project and description of the project methodology.
The event that had in attendance, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Prof. Umaru Garba Danbatta, Representatives of the consultants, KPMG, representatives of service providers, representatives from various levels of other operators in telecom industry and the media, was held at the Digital Bridge Institute, CAPPA, Oshodi, Lagos on January 16, 2018.
The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Prof. Umaru Garba Danbatta, in his welcome address, stated that the Commission is happy with the phenomenal growth in the industry so far. “We believe that the next critical phase is to ensure that everyone, wherever they live, and whatever their circumstances, have access to the benefits of broadband and this can only happen with the pervasive deployment of broadband infrastructure and services across the country considering the potential of broadband as a key enabler of national productivity, economic growth and development, social inclusion and cultural enrichment”, he stated.
He stated that, the affordability and accessibility of broadband services, however, is largely determined by the prices that are charged for those services. “Therefore ensuring that prices charged for retail broadband and data services are cost based, in line with international best practice, is critical to the deployment and uptake of broadband and data services in Nigeria”, he reiterated.
Prof. Danbatta stated that this has, therefore, necessitated the conduct of the Study on the Determination of Cost Based Pricing for Retail Broadband and Data Services Nigeria for which the firm of Messrs KPMG has been selected and appointed to carry out, after a thorough selection process.
He concluded by saying that, consistent with the NCC’s principle of ensuring participatory regulation, the Stakeholders’ Forum is held, not only to formally introduce the Project Consultant, Messrs KPMG, to Industry Stakeholders, but also to formally kick-start the project.
Earlier on, Josephine Amuwa, Director, Policy Competition and Economic Analysis department, NCC, had apologized to the forum for not hosting the Stakeholders forum in November 2017 which it was earlier scheduled to hold. She then, gave a brief insight into how we got to this stage from 2013, when a study was conducted for the determination of the wholesale pricing and transmission capacity market, but the report was later suspended due to some concerns raised by some stakeholders. She, however, stated that, thiscurrent study on retail pricing will also include a review of the wholesale pricing too.
The Consultant, Messrs KPMG, represented by Segun Sowande, Partner, KPMG, Sean Kennedy, Regulatory Expert, KPMG/CEG and Roger Steele, Regulatory Expert. KPMG/CEG, gave their presentation on “The Project and Description of the Project Methodology”, as well as another presentation on Stakeholder Input and Requirements from Operators”. Segun Sowande stated that the timeline for the project is from January 2018 to April 2018 with the achievement of Stakeholders engagement, Data gathering and collection, Conducting Market research, Developing and validating cost model with stakeholders and Formalise outcomes and conduct capacity building workshop for regulators.
Sean Kennedy, on his part, stated that, the increase in demand for broadband by consumers is a critical global trend to the development of economies. He stated that regulators all over the world, are also doing what NCC is doing regarding the determination of the cost based pricing for wholesale and retail Broadband, hence, NCC is, therefore, following International best practice.
Roger Steele, in his own presentation, stated that, the principle of the Bottom Up model will be used in determining the cost price, where each element of cost that goes into the supply of Broadband, such as the cost of cable technicians pay, etc.
During the question and answer session, fears were allayed on the possibility of the consumers having to pay more to access data, although, the forum was urged to wait for the outcome of the project to see how it pans out.
The NCC was also advised to take care of other factors that could hinder Broadband penetration, such as Right of Way and Vandalism of cable and equipment.
Josephine Amuwa concluded by saying that, a much larger forum that will involve other stakeholders that are not present at this one, will be called at a later date to continue the discussion on the subject.
