By RARZACK OLAEGBE
Our culture rewards individual success.
‘’If one operator has already deployed fibre along a route, there is little value in having multiple operators excavate the same corridor to install parallel infrastructure’’. One of the players said at a stakeholders’ forum recently. But like a cook who refused to exit a heated but poorly ventilated kitchen, the telecoms operators have refused to exit the enemy’s corridor. They have refused to collaborate to conquer territories.
On the one hand
The reason for the obstinacy is individual ownership. The Yellow Marines want to own their infrastructure. The Red Rouge wants to own its infrastructure. The Green One wants to own everything. The infrastructure. The process. The people. The technology. I am not sure what the Lone One want. It must be survival. When you are drowning in a river, you do not remember your investments. You want to survive. You want to live. Again.
On the other hand
That is your concern. After that, you can thrive. The telecom players thrive by owning their environment. A big man in the telecom sector told me that the telecom service is simple. Provide telecom service. Distribute it. I know it is more than that. It is like running a cable television station; running a telecom company is capital intensive. It requires capital to renew a license. Build a base station. Erect a mast. Set up microwave links. Mount cellular radio. Install switches. Build a data centre. Lay fibre optic cables. But it is possible to collaborate on some of this infrastructure.
In the long term
I know it. The Divisional CEO, ipNX Business, Oluseyi Lala, also knows it. I quoted him in my opening lines. ‘’Achieving Nigeria’s broadband ambitions will require more than fibre alone. We need to encourage greater collaboration among operators. Embrace infrastructure-sharing models that reduce unnecessary duplication of investments,’’ he said.
When there is a will, there is a way. However, when the will is to outshine a competitor, there is a higher way. I know that the capital expenditure is humongous. Telecoms EBITDA is huge, too. That is why collaboration is required. It can cut Capex. Co-location will reduce cost. Infrastructure sharing will reduce risk. For instance, in my vicinity, overnight, hundreds of internet poles sprouted like mushrooms. These poles could serve millions of subscribers.
Suddenly, another operator repeated the same drudgery process of digging and erecting the same poles along the same stretch of road. What is the point? Why jostle for dominance in a territory both players would win without effort? What are the players trying to prove? Who pays for the poles? Answer. Subscribers. Our culture rewards individual success. Meanwhile, few banks have collaborated to finance massive telecom deals. Why did banks do this? To share risk. To share resources. To experience success together. Working together makes everyone win. I know it. The telecom players know it. Lala knows it.
“We should not continue to duplicate fibre infrastructure,” Lala said. “Open-access and shared infrastructure models make network expansion easier, reduce costs, and improve access. This is not a new concept. The majority of submarine cable systems were built through joint ventures and shared investment models. Nigeria should adopt approaches that work for our local operating environment.”
In the short term
If infrastructure vandals have become Goliaths, what is stopping the telecoms from conquering these Goliaths? Individual success.
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