In response to Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State, issuing an Executive Order on Thursday, May 14, 2020, to reduce the Right of Way fee in Ekiti State, from N4,500 per meter to the recommended N145 per meter, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami has urged other States in the country to emulate Ekiti by reducing Right of Way fees, in their respective States, in line with previous agreements reached.
“This is, a highly commendable effort, by @kfayemi. It will, undoubtedly, facilitate broadband penetration in Ekiti State.
Hope other states will emulate the action, as earlier agreed, during our meeting”, Dr. Pantami had tweeted.
It would be recalled that, earlier this year, 14 States in the country, increased RoW fee, for laying internet fibre optic cables and other telecoms infrastructure in their States, about 3 days after all the State Governors, were sent a letters to comply with the N145 per meter RoW fee, by Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.
The States that further jacked up their fees at that time include, Lagos, Kano, Anambra, Ondo, Cross River, Kogi, Osun, Kaduna, Enugu, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Imo, Kebbi and Gombe States.
The act of signing an Executive Order to reduce the Right of Way fee, from N4, 500 to N145 per meter, made Ekiti State, the first state in the country, to comply with the recommended Right of Way fee, for broadband deployment in the States of the Federation.
We wait to see how other States will respond to this, as a positive response, will facilitate the deployment of broadband infrastructure in States, throughout the Federation, by the telcos that have been yearning for the reduction in the Right of Way fee, for a long time now.
Featured Image: independent.ng
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