By Kingsley I. Ilechukwu, Bureau Chief, South West

The quest for reliable telecommunications infrastructure for the players in West Africa’s ICT industry to deliver essential services and products in an interdependent ecosystem, was the focus of discussions at the maiden edition of the West Africa Telecoms Infrastructure Summit and Exhibition (WATISE).

The event, which had as its theme: ‘The Future of Infrastructure, Connectivity And Services: A New Interdependent Ecosystem of Partners’ was hosted by Technology Mirror, an ICT and Telecoms news website with support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and IHS Towers Nigeria.

In the lead presentation with the topic: ‘Telecoms Infrastructure Challenges: The Pains of Inter-Related Players of the Ecosystem and the Consumers’ Quest,  a telecoms engineer and Chief Executive Officer of RS Engineering Global Limited, Engr Spencer Itive harped on the need for governments in the region to pay close attention to the protection of telecoms infrastructure for the region’s digital economy quest to be achieved.

According to Engr. Itive, government’s had been paying lip services to the declaration of telecom infrastructure as critical national  infrastructure, stressing that the lack of commitment from the governments led to a consistent attack on telecoms infrastructure across the country.

“We are yet to see the commitment of the government in protecting telecom infrastructure and this is why every community sees the deployment as a favour to the telecom operators,” he said.

Itive said a complex tapestry of partnerships now wove together telecom companies, technology giants, governments, and a thriving ecosystem of startups noting that these partnerships would redefine the boundaries of what was possible in telecommunications.

On the future of infrastructure connectivity, he said all stakeholders in the telecoms sector had to understand that no single entity could meet the multifaceted demands of the digital age in isolation.

In the second presentation, with the topic: ‘Infrastructure Gap: Leveraging Connectivity and Technology to Transform Enterprise and Social-Economic Life in West Africa’, Chief Executive Officer, Sens Orbit Nigeria Rachael Orumor said that over 20 million businesses across Africa used technology to interact with their clients and potential customers.

Ms. Orumor who is based in the Republic Benin, said that the factors that were driving digital transformation in West Africa were the increasing investment in infrastructure, growing awareness of the benefits of technology and a supportive regulatory environment.

While delivering her paper virtually, Orumor noted that there was limited access to education, especially for people in rural areas, who did not have access to high-speed internet or reliable mobile service stressing the need for more attention for telecoms infrastructure in the region’s rural areas.

According to her, to leverage connectivity and technology to transform enterprise and socioeconomic life in West Africa, infrastructure investments must ensure the proper functioning of existing infrastructure while expanding telecommunications reach.

She said that lack reliable telecoms infrastructure reduced economic opportunities noting that many businesses now relied on online tools and platforms to operate, and workers who did not have access to these tools might be at a disadvantage.

During the panel discussion, Chief Executive Officer of Coloplus, a tower infrastructure company, Mike Ofili, said that returns on investment in infrastructure could only be achieved in major cities where there were relative stability and a ready market.

He said the concentration of most telecoms infrastructure in major cities, was because of vandalism, insecurity, and high right-of-way (RoW) charges experienced across the country.

Ofili however, noted that RoW charges were also high in the major cities, especially, Lagos, but operators were able to sustain infrastructure deployment with higher returns from the state.

Speaking on the issues that prompted operators to slow down their expansion into rural areas, Ofili said most telcos had to pay so much to lay fibre cables.

“I can tell you that 90 per cent of the data centres in Nigeria are in Lagos and I don’t know how you want to achieve 70 per cent broadband penetration in Nigeria with almost all the data centres in Lagos.

“It is very difficult to lay fibre cable across many communities in Nigeria, you cannot cross any community without paying different people”, he said.

” You cannot build towers without going through different communities of people demanding all kinds of things,” Ofili said.