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

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

3. 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. 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 2006.  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. 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. 6  Subscriber Statistics - 2000 – 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. 7 Annual Subscriber Data in Nigeria

8. 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. 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. 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. 11 Consolidated BTS Coverage of Nigeria

12. 12 Consolidated Fibre Coverage of Nigeria

13. 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. 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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