Have you ever wondered what it would be like, if telecommunications giants like MTN, Vmobile, Globacom etc have franchise shops scattered all over the nooks and crannies of Nigeria like fast food giants such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC have done in America and Europe? It would according to Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, President of Association of Elecommunications Companies Nigeria (ATCON) be an awesome tool for amplifying and accelerating the growth of ICT Infracstructure in the country.
Dr Ekuwem stated in a chat with ThisDay that franchising as an option was the next level in the deployment of ICT for the growth of the emerging sector. The telecoms sector which is projected by the Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to grow by 4 million lines annually over the next 5 years is the fastest growing sector in Africa and indeed the world. Nigeria with a teledensity that is currently below 20 has room for even more development. The number of subscribers in the telecommunications sector in the past 5 years has attained 25.3 million subscribers with 24 million as digital mobile lines. It is common knowledge that the massive growth recorded in the sector was enhanced by private sector participation. Communications Minister, Corneluis Adebayo recently stated that over $ 9 billion has come into the country as a result of direct foreign investment in the telecommunications industry. He called on all Nigerians to take advantage of the beneficial investments in the sector for wealth creation.
He disclosed that the National Rural Telephony programme of the Federal Government was making progress with the construction of Exchange Buildings and the completion of 73 sites in 25 states. He added that switching systems and exchanges in 14 locations in addition to the construction of microwave towers in 6 locations are underway. This option is a good one to look at given the fact that the Obasanjo administration is currently looking at various ways of deploying ICT to the rural areas. It’s desire to bring development closer to the rural communities, through the National Rural Telephony Programme by providing telephony services to all the local Government Headquarters in the country through the deployment of 3 projects, which will provide telecommunications to a total of 343 Local Government Areas, equitably spread across the country. The enabling environment provided by the Federal Government and its obvious desire for the growth of ICT and its desire to ensure that ICT gets to the rural areas will all be enhanced by the franchise option.
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