It is obvious that Gbenga Adebayo, President of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the body which he superintends have become two successes that have made undeniably huge contributions to Nigeria’s Telecommunications sector, both as a body and as an organization. CYRIACUS NNAJI writes.
ALTON is a body corporate, duly registered under the laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria as an Incorporated Trustee, and officially recognized by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission as the official industry body for all providers of telecommunication and subsidiary services in Nigeria, the aim of which, is for thepromotion and supporting of legislation that would enhance the quality of telecommunications practice and services in Nigeria and protect the collective interests of all telecommunications operators.
Indeed, Gbenga Adebayo since taking over as the helmsman at ALTON has shown capacity bringing innovation to the Association and have helped in no small measure, through ALTON, the growth and sustainability of entire telecoms landscapes in Nigeria.
Having achieved successes as Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Communication Network Support Services Limited, whose operations cuts across Telecommunication Network maintenance, Call and Contact Centre Service; Media; Broadcasting; Agriculture; Hotels and Hospitality Services; Medical and Hospital Services, and as the President and Founder of Royal FM 95.1Mhz, the first private FM Radio Station in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria, Adebayo is a success wherever he has set his feet, no wonder ALTON has become synonymous with success.
It is noteworthy that the ICT sector contributed a whopping 14.07 per cent to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier, which was 13.32 per cent, and in the preceding quarter, which it accounted for 13.12 per cent, according to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami. Mr Pantami stated this recently in a statement signed by Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant, Information Technology to the Minister.
”It is noteworthy that the ICT sector contributed 14.07 per cent to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier, which was 13.32 per cent and in the preceding quarter, in which it accounted for 13.12 per cent. This contribution is unprecedented,” Mr Pantami said.
The above feats would not have been possible without the active involvement of people like Adebayo and ATCON in ICT activities of the nation with their developmental strides and innovations.
The Author of Telecom in Nigeria: A Role in the Call, a book on telecommunications development in Nigeria, and a former General Manager of VGC Communications Ltd. Nigeria, a Private Telephone Operator and provider of digital fibre optic supported land line services, data communications and broadband internet services, Adebayo through ALTON has engaged in various advocacy initiatives that have ensured growth of Telecoms services in Nigeria.
Speaking last year on why telecoms poor services persist, Adebayo, tasked the government and approval authorities to speed up the process of obtaining site-building approvals required by telecoms operators. He said, “Government must do a lot more in protecting exiting telecommunications infrastructure because recurring vandalisation of infrastructure is a major disincentive for rolling out more sites.
“Also, high cost of Right of Way (RoW) for interconnecting underground fibre optic cable infrastructure is a major challenge, which limits the numbers of sites to be built or interconnected. Investment in BTS infrastructure could only happen when there is an enabling environment in Nigeria.”
Recently Adebayo assured subscribers of reduction in the price of data if the present efforts of the Federal Government on Right of Way (RoW) are sustained.
Adebayo gave the assurance on behalf of Telecom operators while stating that a lot of factors had been responsible for the current price regime, which many Nigerians are not contented with, he pointed out that factors such as high cost of bandwidth and Right of Way were responsible for such high cost of telecoms services.
According to the association’s helms man, the recent declaration of telecoms infrastructure as critical national infrastructure would also ensure the protection of telecoms facilities and decrease expenditure on repairs.
Engr. Adebayo observed that with recent efforts of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, which have started yielding positive results, Nigerians would see a reduction in prices soon.
“We commend the honourable minister for his interventions, which have prompted some state governors to reduce Right of Way charges. Our members do not even have to pay for RoW in some states. This is a good development that will lead to a reduction in the cost of telecoms services soon,” Adebayo disclosed.
According to him, this followed the presidential approval of his request to that effect. With the approval, he said the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), had been notified of the President’s directive.
As an advocate of local content, Engr. Adebayo said “There is no clear local content policy in the industry. We must address local content issue without which jobs will continue to go off-shores.
“It has also impacted on poor remuneration of Nigerians employed in some of the companies operating in the sector.’
Adebayo have been variously and uniquely described in the following glowing ways: Nigeria I-T and Telecom Digest Magazine described him as ‘Estimable’, The Newswatch Magazine described him as ‘Wiz Kid at the Top’ and The City People Magazine described him as a ‘Telecom Wizard’ and The Guardian Newspaper named him as one of the Most young Inspiring 50 Nigerian Entrepreneurs in 2017.
In October 2004, he was listed as one of 44 -Nigerian professionals in a media survey on the ‘roadmap to the future, those who will make Nigeria Great again’ during Nigeria’s 44th Independence anniversary.
ALTON has made innumerable achievements since Adebayo brought his visionary leadership to bear on the Telecoms association. Rolling out the achievements at a press conference in Lagos, Adebayo noted that 20 years after the liberalization of the telecoms sector in Nigeria, the country has moved from one cellular mobile network with limited coverage and 26,500 connected lines to 4 GSM operators, 2 VoIP operators, 4 Fixed Wired operators with 172.9mn mobile subscriptions & teledensity at 123.5 per cent.
“After 20 years, Nigeria boasts of over N15trn contribution to its economy, over 123mn internet subscriptions across various technology platforms (e.g. VoIP, GSM & Fixed Wired), sector contribution to GDP at 11.4 per cent and over USD68bn Foreign Direct Investment. This is worth celebrating,” he said.
He added that Nigeria is today Africa’s largest telecoms market in terms of subscriptions, adding that beyond growth in sheer numerical terms, telecoms have evolved from being a sparsely-available public utility to becoming a ‘social overhead capital’.
ALTON also has a reward system where they award honours to deserving industry players for their various impactful contributions to the telecoms sector.
Some of those who have meritoriously benefitted from ALTON awards include Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who got the telecoms legend award for providing the much needed regulatory and policy environment for the development of the telecoms sector, while Dr. Mike Adenuga founder of Globacom got the telecoms indigenous investors award for being the major investor in the first most successful GSM company and the owner of the second National carrier and the first network to introduce per second billing.
Other awards were the Industry Pioneers, Special Recognition for Industry Leaders, Industry Achievers, Industry Merit, Industry Recognition for Resources Persons, Smart City, Regulatory Merit for Persons and Sector Support award which went to Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) and Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA).
