Nigeria is long way behind in Broadband penetration - Hook

Mr. Francis Hook, who is an official of the Middle East & Africa region of the International Data Corporation (IDC), with over 30-years experience at the world famous research body, was recently at eNNOVATE2007, a feast of technological ideas organised by XLR8. He was there to make a keynote presentation on Nigeria’s Broadband Barometer (A Cisco-commissioned research report). OLUWASEUN AYANTOKUN met him there and he spoke on the importance of developing languages to deliver online contents to make them appealing to Nigerians. He also spoke on some issues concering Broadband penetration in Nigeria. Excerpts:

What does IDC stands for?
IDC stands for International Data Corporation. It was founded over 30 years ago. I belong to Middle East & Africa (MEA) unit. Recently, we undertook a study for Cisco on the Broadband market basically to measure how the Broadband market faired in the last 36 months.

What would you say about Nigeria’s position in terms of Broadband penetration?
Broadband penetration in Nigeria is rather low. Our figures for last year show the penetration is 0.01 per cent. When you compare that to other countries in Europe and Eastern part of Africa like Tanzania that has 13 per cent, you’ll consider that a long way behind. And with no fast access to information, slow interaction, basically, economic development is slowed down. You can have Broadband in industries, businesses, homes. It’s very useful for education purposes, seamless e-government, etc. Broadband can be provided through various technologies: VSAT, fibre optic, wireless access. What is important now is the cost of Broadband coming down. In our presentation, we showed that more than 60 per cent connection are by VSAT and the cost of VSAT is very high.

To get a VSAT small terminal in the house cost about $ 3,000. That’s beyond just anyone’s reach. Broadband cost should typically fall below $100 per month. Right now, it’s anything from $122 and $1,500 per month whether you use the lease line, digital subscriber line, VSAT, the cost is too high. Now, the position of technology is that of fixed wireless, making Broadband accessible and easier to deploy, especially in the rural areas. And now that technology is wireless, this becomes much easier to do.

What are the factors responsible for low level of Broadband penetration in Nigeria?
Well, I wouldn’t say anyone thing, I would rather like to state what can be done to remove it. One is to remove monopoly, especially with people who manage international bandwith like the fibre optic cable. If the monopoly can be removed and more players are invited to participate, the cost can come down. Another thing to do to remove the monopoly is to increase the number of final mile access providers. If the people buying the bandwith can bring it to people’s homes and offices, that segment can be further obliged, there can be more players to bring down the prices. Finally, development of local contents is very important. You can’t give a very big pipe to people to access information without any information to access. Our local information should be encouraged. It’s got to go beyond media contents provided online.

Entertainment, school research, all local content, should be put in rather than downloading content from elsewhere like Youtube, etc. If a lot of content can be generated locally, that can stimulate the market. You’ve mentioned something on deliberate policy by the government to drive Broad band penetration….I am aware of the initiative by the government,that is SABI (State Accelerated Broadband Initiative), that should help accelerate deployment of Broadband in Nigeria .

What other things should the government do to fast track the process?
One thing is, like similar initiatives, is to make it a public - private initiative. I’ll give an example of Broadband initiative in South Africa. There is partnership between the government and the private stake holders like telecoms operators, including mobile, all coming to put in their resources, because one key thing to keep in mind in going into this area is determining that which is negligible or not there at all. The government can come in and say we are participating this way and need your support. If it is done that way, it can probably get more appeal for the private sector player to support it.

In what way do you think ISPs in Nigeria can contribute to Broadband penetration in the country?
Well, many of them are also constrained by a lot of factors. One of them has to do with bandwith. Another one has to do with ICT products whose costs can be passed on to end users. So, I think taxes can be reduced on equipment used. For example, in Kenya , all ICT products are zero-rated, they do not attract VAT or duties.This has caused many more people to buy computers, many more schools to buy computers. What happened in this country’s mobile market some years ago was a good example of what a relaxed tax regime can do.

In what way do you think mobile operators, that is major telecoms operators in this country, can contribute to Broadband service?.
The blackBerry service is an example. The question now is how many can afford to acquire needed sophisticated handsets. How many people can afford Internet-enabled handsets, blackberry. That is the major constraint.

Can a policy that emphasises only Broadband at the expense of others be recommended in the case of Nigeria ?
Yes, but inherent in that kind of policy are so many other issues I can’t go into right now. It won’t be that easy. For example, you have companies that make automobiles. You can’t say others should be discarded because of a superior discovery. It has to make business sense in the first place. So, it is a very delicate issue.

What is your prediction on Nigeria ’s Broadband future?
I think in the next five to 10 years, people are moving away from fixed communication to more mobile communication. People also moving to wireless applications. Very soon, people will not be constrained by where they are. There will be more of working away from office.So, there will be a departure from centralised information to more mobile information.

A good example is the blackBerry, wherever somebody with a blackBerry is, there his office is. People do not physically need to be in their offices. A call on your landline can be routed to your blackBerry with you in Moscow. So, basically, there’s more mobility coming, more mobile applications, more companies coming to mobile applications, broadcasters, advisers will soon be directing their content to people to through mobile applications.