1 Access Gap Studies Abdullahi Maikano Secretary Universal Service Provision Fund Bidders Meeting October 2012

2  Key Objectives of Meeting  Introduction  Background to the Access Gap Study  Key Objectives of the Access Gap Study Presentation Outline

3 Key Objectives of the Meeting  To provide a background to the Project.  Give further clarifications where necessary  Brainstorm and exchange ideas on the Project

4  The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established by the Nigerian Communications Act No. 19 of 2003:  To facilitate the extension of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Network Services to the rural, un-served and underserved areas of the country  The USPF commenced operations in  One of USPF’s major programmes is to accelerate mobile expansion to cover all the nooks and cranny of the country  To replicate the telecoms explosion witnessed in the urban areas (towns/cities) to the rural areas  To leapfrog the unserved and underserved communities to the digital experience. Introduction

5  Under the Accelerated Mobile Phone Expansion Programme (AMPEP), two projects were implemented: 1. BTS – Licensed mobile operators are provided subsidies to build BTS in selected underserved and unserved communities 2. CIP – Infrastructure providers are awarded subsidies to build BTS for collocation i.e provide shareable (passive) infrastructure for operators  Locations were selected by implementers for approval of the USPF  Key challenges faced in the implementation of these projects include the following: - Non-completion of most projects - “Cherry-picking” of sites, therefore implementation became uncoordinated resulting in suboptimal performance - Request for location changes Introduction AMPE - BTS AMPE - CIP A total of 3 completed and 101 in progress A total of 62 completed and in operation

6  Subscriber Statistics – 2012  Nigeria is the fastest growing telecommunications market in Africa i.e. in terms of number of subscribers  The graph overleaf shows the trend from 2000 to August 2012 Background to the Access Gap Study

7 Annual Subscriber Data in Nigeria

8  Subscriber Statistics – Comparative Analysis  Nigeria is number 1 among selected African in terms of number of subscribers Background to the Access Gap Study Telecoms Subscriber base of selected African countries (August 2012)

9  Statistics - coverage Africa  However, in terms of coverage (penetration), Nigeria is far behind.  From being No 1 to No. 8, in selected African countries  Therefore, a new strategy must be adopted to ensure 100% coverage of Nigeria within the next 5 years. Background to the Access Gap Study Source: World Bank

10  To address this, the USPF has to change its strategy.  Hence, the need to cluster unserved areas into blocks and thereafter request bids from Operators.  The coverage map for consolidated BTS sites and fibre routes are presented overleaf: Background to the Access Gap Study

11 Consolidated BTS Coverage of Nigeria

12 Consolidated Fibre Coverage of Nigeria

13 The key objectives of the Access Gap Study are to:  Create Clusters of areas not covered by telecommunications services in Nigeria with the view of inviting bids for each cluster as a bundle/block – this is similar to the Model adopted by the USP Fund, Malaysia  Each Cluster will come with the necessary attributes that would be the selling points.  The attributes include – Population; Land Area; Key Public/Private Institutions; Principal Economic Activity; Major Road network; Existence of other USPF assisted projects etc.  This strategy would reduce cherry picking by prospective implementers and ensure the 40%, not served would be served. Key Objectives of the Project

14  The Request for Proposal (RFP) provides a high level scope of work for the Project.  Details were not provided considering that there could be several means of achieving the objective of the Project  The USPF did not want to prescribe any particular means but hopes that bidders will come up with innovate solutions for analysing and identifying clusters.  The expectation is that bids will provide the detailed strategy and methodology for achieving the Project objectives. Key Objectives of the Access Gap Study

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