…As War Looms Between Elon Musk And Telcos
SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company owned by world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has further advanced its plans to establish Starlink, its satellite internet service in Nigeria, following the company’s recent meeting with the Nigerian government.
Before now, SpaceX has been in virtual talks with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the past months on the establishment of Starlink in the country.
Having made substantial progress in the discussion, SpaceX was granted a physical discussion request by the NCC.
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation constructed by SpaceX. Starlink intends to provide quality satellite internet connectivity to rural and underserved areas of the planet with poor terrestrial internet infrastructure, as well as provide competitively priced service in more urbanized areas.
The satellite services is currently available in countries like Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, France, among others.
SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa, Ryan Goodnight who led the company to the physical meeting with the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Umar Danbatta, stated that the company is hoping to get required operational licences from the NCC to establish its communication satellite in the country.
Goodnight, during his presentation, stated that with the establishment of SpaceX’s Starlink, Nigerians would get quality internet access at a lower cost.
According to him, the company’s reason to establish its communication satellite in Nigeria is attributed to the identification of the country as a critical and important market.
Goodnight who was accomplianed by the company’s consultant, Levin Born, also provided an overview of its plans, expectations, licensing requests and deployment phases during the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Techical Services, NCC, Ubale Maska, stated that the agency is working on the proposal of the company, while assuring that it will ensure Nigerians get the best out of the proposal.
Maska stated that the agency will ensure it put necessary modalities in place that will allow a healthy competition between existing network providers and the entry of the new technologies. According to him, the sustainable growth and development of the telecoms industry in Nigeria will play a significant role in the NCC’s decision.
Maska further stated that the commission is interested in making necessary regulatory efforts to drive the coverage of rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country through the accomplishments of the lofty targets contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025. He noted that the plan’s target of 70 per cent broadband penetration target, covering 90 per cent of the population by 2025, is also in line with government expectations in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), 2010-2030.
“As the regulator of a highly dynamic sector in Nigeria, the Commission is conscious of the need to ensure that our regulatory actions are anchored on national interest. We have listened to your presentation and we will review it vis-à-vis our regulatory direction of ensuring effective and a sustainable telecoms ecosystem where a licensee’s operational model does not dampen healthy competition among other licensees,” Mr Maska told the SpaceX delegation.
Meanwhile, in the coming days, a major showdown is imminent between the Elon Musk’s company and telcos in the country as Starlink communication satellite is expected to provide competition for the already established terrestrial players like MTN, Glo and Airtel in Nigeria. Should the company get the required operational licences, Nigerians residing in rural areas are expected to get quality internet access.
Other senior management staff of the commission at the briefing include the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu; Director, Licensing and Authorisation, Mohammed Babajika; Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Bako Wakil; Director, New Media and Information Security, Haru Alhassan and Director, Spectrum Administration, Oluwatoyin Asaju, among others.
