NCC out with new industry model for broadband penetration

LAGOS — Telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has proposed the setting up and licensing of infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to hasten the deployment of broadband to all nooks and crannies of the country under the National Broadband Network (NBN) Deployment plan.
“The objective of this initiative is to stimulate a new national broadband network that is not only more widespread but also faster and more secure than what is available today, thereby stimulating other sectors of the economy and leading to higher economic spinoffs for Nigeria. In addition, it will offer efficient connectivity as well as ultra high-speed broadband services that is available, affordable and sustainable,” according to NCC.
The release of the document comes ahead of a planned public consultation on the plan billed to hold next Friday in Lagos.
In the document uploaded on its website and accessed by Vanguard, the telecoms regulator proposed a new (broadband) industry structure that will consist of InfraCos providing intercity fibre and others providing metro fibre, while geographically-focused InfraCos will provide wholesale bandwidth services on “a non-discriminatory, open access, price regulated basis.” According to the NCC document, titled “Open Access Next Generation Fibre Optics Broadband Network Industry Consultation Paper November 2013,” InfraCos may also provide dark fibre services on commercial basis.
They will also be required to focus on the “deployment of metropolitan fibre and provide transmission services, available at access points (Fibre to the Node or Neighborhood – FTTN) to access seekers, leverage existing inter-city fibre to deploy their services, and purchase/lease transmission or long haul fibre capacity from other providers, where available, for the purpose of interconnection.”
The business model proposed for the InfraCos indicate that their customers will include:
*Wholesale Wireless Last Mile Operators;
*RSPs (Retail Service Providers) that require wholesale bandwidth;
*Independent operators/ wholesale operators who require to lease transmission services; and
*Other access seekers such as Vertically Integrated Operators and NLDOs (National Long Distance Operators).
The Wholesale Wireless Last Mile Providers are expected to deploy last mile connectivity using a mixture of existing technologies, including wireless and fibre optic broadband.
“In addition,” says the NCC document, “the available 2.3GHZ spectrum license will be auctioned to provide last mile wireless access on a wholesale basis.”
Further, the Wholesale Wireless Last Mile Provider will interconnect with the proposed InfraCos at their Points of Access (PoA), thereby creating an integrated broadband service nationwide to homes and businesses.
There are also the vertically integrated telecommunication companies, which consist of mainly existing private telcos that have established presence, in addition to National Long Distance Operators (NLDOs) which are private companies that “construct, own, and operate transmission networks for carrying long distance telecommunications services within Nigeria.
Others are Retail Service Providers, RSPs, who are “expected to ride on the wholesale last mile provider to provide services to homes, businesses and schools, but will have flexibility to obtain services from variety of operators and can leverage on other operators beyond InfraCos to meet end-user needs.”
NCC added that “the proposed structure allows existing players to operate on the basis of business-as-usual, with the option of transferring/leasing their inter-city and existing metropolitan fibre infrastructure to the InfraCos.”

- Vanguard

loading...