T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016
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BUSINESSWORLD
E-BUSINESS
‘Proposed ICT Tax Will Price Millions Out of Internet Access’ Stories by Emma Okonji The plan by the National Assembly to hike communications services tax also known as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tax, will prevent over 50 million Nigerians from being able to afford a basic broadband connection, a situation that will also deny them internet access, the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)-Nigeria Coalition, has said. Analysing the proposed nine per cent tax to be levied on consumers of communications services, A4AI-Nigeria coalition, said it would cause nearly 50 million Nigerians great challenge to afford a basic broadband plan. The analysis suggests that the passage of such a tax is likely to threaten Nigeria’s ability to achieve its goal of 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018 and will undermine the socio-economic progress spurred by increased connectivity. The Communication Service Tax (CST) Bill 2015, currently before the National Assembly, will require consumers of voice, data, short message service (SMS), multimedia message services (MMS) and pay TV services, to pay nine per cent tax on the fees paid for the use of these services.
The tax will be collected in addition to the five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) that consumers already pay when they purchase devices and communication services, as well as the 12 per cent custom import duties paid on ICT devices, and the 20 per cent tax levied on SIM cards. Mobile operators and service providers will be responsible for collecting consumer payments and must fulfill additional reporting obligations that are likely to increase operational costs and service fees for consumers. Increasing access to and use of the Internet and communication technologies is central to Nigeria’s development agenda. “Though Nigeria can currently claim to have some of Africa’s most affordable internet prices such as 500MB priced at 5.4 per cent of average income in 2014, broadband penetration still stands at just 12 per cent. The reality is that 40 per cent of Nigerians earn less than half of the average income; this means that a basic mobile broadband plan actually costs the majority of Nigerians anywhere between 7-18 per cent of their monthly income. The addition of this tax would increase the cost to connect across board, with women and low-income populations
Software Development Competition Holds in Jos nHub Nigeria, in collaboration with Qitech Technologies and Knowhow Media International, publishers of IT Edge News. Com, will in November this year, organise the second software and apps competition also known as hackathon event. This year’s competition is designed to foster interest among young people in software development and the entire spectrum of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The event, which is scheduled to hold in Jos, Plateau State, is expected to attract international stakeholders and the local ICT community. Tagged Hackjos, the four day software development marathon will also feature a one day conference with the theme: “How ready is Nigeria for the internet of things (IOT)”. The event is conceived to be a meeting point for budding entrepreneurs and already established tech-companies as well as for policy makers and investors angling to bet on technology innovation. About 30 teams consisting of a minimum of three developers/‘hackathoners’, 10 judges, 10 tech support team and over 300 live audience and spectators, will be housed for four days in a marathon of wit, entrepreneurship and mental fitness to develop appssolutions under the framework of Nigeria’s readiness for IOT and sector-by-sector challenges in Nigeria’s economic space. The Hackjos competition is bringing together tech-savvy citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, students,
programmers and developers across Nigeria under one roof for 48 hours to get involved and showcase their ingenuity and talents in the pursuit of creating compelling solutions that cut across mobile, desktop, web and hardware that will help solve problems relevant to the various sectors of the Nigerian economy. The Chief Executive Officer of nHub Nigeria, organiser of Hackjos, Daser David, said: “People may wonder why Jos. We are bringing people to experience the changing dynamics in Jos. We want them to come see the quiet transition as Jos acquires a new reputation as the go-to-place for innovation to harness the ability of young people for innovation in ICT.” The Head, Plateau State ICT Agency, Mrs. Rahab Shik, on behalf of the state government, said: “We welcome participants and international delegates to Hackjos 2016 into Jos, a home of peace and tourism. Despite recent sad challenges, Jos beckons with opportunities for various economic activities. We are glad to share with the world our improving statistics on conflict management and restoring of order for business.” Chairman, Qitech Technology Limited, Dr. Sola Afolabi, said: “Dwindling oil revenue and a large population of young people would only mean that Africa’s largest economy will have to rework its fate on its youth and the expansive ICT sector. We are happy to collaborate on an event themed on innovation, youth and the future of Nigeria.”
likely to be the hardest hit,” the A4AI-Nigerian Coalition said in a statement. Commenting on the proposed law, National Coordinator for A4AI-Nigeria Coalition, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, said: “Balanced fiscal policy must consider affordability of broadband and ICT, and should not put into place additional barriers that will make internet access unaffordable to hundreds of millions of Nigerians. Nigeria is far
behind the more developed countries of the world when it comes to broadband use, and the introduction of the CST will only widen this gap.” Ndukwe called on the National Assembly members to reconsider the passage of the CST and its impact on the development of broadband in Nigeria. According to him, “after such review, if the introduction of a CST is deemed an absolute necessity, it must consider a lower tax
rate than 9 per cent, one that would enable it to achieve fiscal revenue targets without undermining broadband affordability and access.” A4AI, Nigeria brings together prominent players from private and public sectors and civil society to provide a unified approach and coordinated focus in addressing the shared goal of open, affordable access to the Internet in the developing world.
A4AI ranks as the world’s broadest technology sector coalition with the desire for everyone, everywhere, to be able to access the life-changing power of the Internet affordably. Its goal is to achieve the United Nation Broadband Commission target of entrylevel broadband priced at less than five per cent of monthly income, thereby enabling billions more people to come online.
ALL FOR E-CURRICULUM
L-R: Executive Director, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mike Olajide; Executive Secretary, Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Prof. Ismail Junaidu; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan; Senior Special Adviser, Minster of State for Education, Prof. Godswill Obioma, and Executive Director, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, Mr. Hassan Alao, during the stakeholders’ forum on e-Curriculum in abuja...recently
MTN Launches Livestock Tracking Solution, Mobile Electricity MTN Nigeria has launched the MTN Livestock Tracking Solutions (LTS) to assist herdsmen in monitoring and tracking their livestock, while the MTN Mobile Electricity will provide affordable electricity to rural community dwellers. These solutions will help reduce the incidence of wandering cattle and provide electricity to entrepreneurs and rural dwellers. The mobile electricity solution, in partnership with Nova-Lumos, will bring clean, modern and affordable electricity to MTN customers in the rural areas. MTN Executive, Amina Oyagbola, announced the launch of these solutions in her goodwill message at the first Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit 2016. According to her, “This ICT solution can track the location of cattle, send panic or emergency alerts to the authorities in times of trouble and help with creating grazing areas separate from farmlands. It can perform location tracking for cattle and geo-fencing for grazing areas. It makes use of GPS technology and is solar-powered to ensure that you can always stay in touch with your cattle, everywhere they go.” On the mobile electricity solution, she said: “Our customers in rural areas
can therefore replace kerosene lanterns, candles and flashlights with electricity that can power phones, fans, radios, TVs all at once and this service is already running in Katsina State. We are truly excited about these products and their implications for accelerated socio-economic development across the country. His Excellency, Governor Masari had expressed his belief in our ability to devise a solution and we are pleased to say that we have done just that.” Oyagbola also expressed MTN’s preparedness to support e-government objectives at all levels. “We believe ICT is the future and MTN is committed to supporting Katsina and indeed Nigeria to ensure preparedness and empowerment towards this future.” she said. The summit was declared opened by President Muhammadu Buhari during which he called for cooperation and partnerships between the states and the investors in view of the government’s drive to grow local contents and increase export. “The world is now a global village. This summit is therefore a great opportunity to link up with others for the benefit of both parties. Our natural partners are those with requisite skills and financial capabilities to invest.
e.Stream Assures Customers of Improved Service Nigeria’s Internet Service Provider (ISP), e.Stream Networks has partnered wholesale wireless access broadband service provider, Bitflux Communications, to boost customers’ experience in broadband service delivery. Through the partnership, e.Stream will become the Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE ) technology carrier for Bitflux across Nigeria, designed to provide high speed Internet service to the vast Nigerian data subscribers. The 4G LTE technologies are designed to provide IP-based voice, data and multimedia streaming at speeds of at least 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) and up to as fast as 1Gigabyte per second (Gbps). Announcing the partnership deal in Lagos recently, the Managing Director of e.Stream Networks, Mr. Muyiwa Ogungboye, also unveiled the company’s five year expansion plan, aimed at providing better quality services to its existing and prospective clients, as well as boosting the sector’s productivity. He said e.Stream, would this week, mark its 10th anniversary with memorable activities such as assisting government owned secondary schools with learning facilities like classroom chairs, tables, among others. Ogunboye said the partner-
ship would enable it provide the right broadband service and deploy the right technology that would speedily expand broadband penetration in the country. “As an ISO9001 Quality Certified company, e.Stream is a licensed wireless Internet provider dedicated to providing high speed internet services for businesses using a variety of up-to-date technologies. We ensure that our customers’ business communication needs are achieved from a broad range of end-to-end efficient and reliable IP based services. With 10 years experience in the ICT sector and with presence all over Nigeria, we take pride in being recognised as a leading high speed internet provider,” Ogungboye said. Bitflux Communications Limited is a licensed Wholesale Wireless Access Broadband Service Provider offering innovative 4G Broadband Services on a state-of-the-art world class LTE network, and is focused on helping telecommunications service providers grow nationwide. According to Ogungboye, “Our vision is to be the best internet provider of choice and that is why we have partnered Bitflux to ensure the actualisation of this objective and vision in the retail arm of our business especially as we have been in the corporate market for 10years now.