AVOIDABLE STAND-OFF OVER TELECOMS MAST
As a citizen of Nigeria and as someone interested in the telecommunications sector of the country, I have followed the growth of the industry from day one to this present day. I have also observed the current stand-off going on between the NESREA (National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency) and the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission).
I feel obliged to share some thoughts and hope that by so doing, I might shed some light on the issue from an informed observer's perspective.?The NCC has been in the news in recent times for the laudable steps it has taken to ensure that the Nigerian telecoms industry is what it is today. Even challenges and criticisms remain, the telecoms regulator has worked tirelessly, being the body tasked with regulating the industry, to ensure that the telecoms industry in Nigeria is rated amongst the best in the world in terms of quality service delivery.
The NESREA also has been a rallying point in terms of providing and maintaining safety of the environment as far as Nigeria is concerned. They have risen up to the challenge of environmental compliance and have gone about issues such as sensitization of citizens about global warming and ensuring the preservation of the quality of life of the citizenry and the ecosystem.?The telecommunications service providers also need to be praised considering the hardship they have to go through in the course of providing quality telecommunications service to the citizens even with the peculiarities of a country like Nigeria.
In recent times however, there has been the issue of location of base stations and masts used by the network service providers in the provision of network service to the Nigerian citizenry with the NESREA claiming that some of these base stations are too close to residential structures. They argue that this may put the lives of citizens in such areas at risks as radiations from these structures are hazardous to human health.?The NCC, in accordance with section 130 of the Act establishing it (which states specifically that the NCC is to specify and publish to the general public, the technical code and specifications in respect of equipments and facilities that may be used in Nigeria) has a job of regulating the telecoms industry and has a laid down guideline for the installation and management of these masts and base stations to ensure that universally acceptable standards are followed in the citing of these facilities. This is in order to eliminate the risk of radiation. The network service providers had this regulations handed to them by the NCC whose job it is by law to do so.
In other words, the masts and base stations were sited under the watchful eye of the NCC.?Following the liberalization of telecoms sector in Nigeria and the successful auction of GSM licenses in 2001, it was observed by the operators that the existing infrastructure in the country could not support their operations. When compared with other countries, it was observed that Nigeria lacked the necessary infrastructure required for the deployment of telecommunications services. Operators therefore embarked on the accelerated roll-out of core telecoms network which comprised of the infrastructure needed to support their operations in the country.
It is also worthy of note that, with just over 15,000 base station sites currently on ground to service a population of over 160 million people, there is still not enough telephony towers and masts sufficient to meet Nigeria's communication needs. In the United Kingdom for instance, as at the end of 2009, there were 52,500 base stations sites serving a population of about 60 million people. Therefore, there is still the need for over 25,000 additional masts and base stations in the next 5 years. Also, it is worthy of note that with the development of technology, it is expected that stronger and more environmental friendly structures will be created.?It is surprising therefore, that NESREA, with another set of rules guiding the location and citing of base stations and masts, has gone about shutting down the operations of base station that isn't seen to have complied with its own rules and procedures.
This is despite the clean bill of health given to these network service providers by the NCC after careful inspection of such facilities. It is imperative to state here that the NCC is still the body mandated by law to regulate issues as it concerns the telecoms industry. So for the NESREA to go about disturbing these operators is not acceptable.?How can the NESREA state that operators should restrict the citing of network masts and base stations to non-residential and unpopulated areas when it is generally known that for effective quality service delivery, telecommunications infrastructure are needed in every nook and cranny of the country.
Network service cannot be provided in an area if telecommunications infrastructure isn't located in that area or at least within its proximity.? In my opinion, the NESREA should leave the job of regulating the telecoms industry to the NCC and face other equally important aspects that fall more within its scope of function and if there are any opinions or the NESREA has located a mast or base station that has been installed illegally according to NCC's standards, they should make a detailed report of such an occurrence to the NCC in order that proper action can be taken seeing as the NCC is currently the only body tasked with that function.
Undoubtedly, NESRA's responsibilities on environmental standards regulations impinges on the statutory functions of NCC, which indeed regulates communication companies and their network of base stations and masts across the length and breadth of Nigeria. If at all NESREA must come in whenever it becomes extremely expedient regarding any perceived hazards to the environment, it should not make a heavy weather out of it by disrupting services.
One should however advise that the supervising ministries of the squabbling agencies, NCC and NESREA, should intervene speedily to resolve the issues in this stand-off. What is necessary is that the two agencies should know specifically what their roles are and carry them out unimpeded to avoid any such rift of this sort in future. Clearly, the claimed 'wide consultations' with NCC on complaints surrounding the MTN base station, according to NESREA boss, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, did not achieve the desired objective of an amicable resolution of the matter. Central to the rift is conflict of roles between two government agencies. This is at the heart of the recent recommendation of the streamlining of government agencies by the Stephen Oronsaye committee. It is an avoidable conflict. What NESREA did over the base station of MTN, is to say the least, very embarrassing and indeed, an uncouth approach on how a government agency ought not to conduct its duties.
If there is on government agency that has been discharging its duties to the expectations of the public, NCC is to. Any attempt to make the agency to subordinate its function to another in the name of clash of duties, will be a huge disservice to the general public.
This is why the call by the National Association of Telecoms subscribers, calling for immediate stoppage of indiscriminate closure of base stations makes sense. The effect on national security and socio-economic activities of subscribers in the country can only be imagined.
Dike writes from Onitsha.