North may miss out on $6.95bn telecoms investments

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The $6.95bn investments to be made by telecommunications firms nationwide in their networks from this year may elude the North as a result of the high levels of unrest and insecurity, which are largely instigated by the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states rank high on the list of states that may miss out on the investment in the region following the recent declaration of a state of emergency in the states by the Federal Government.

The mobile network operators have decided to invest hugely in their networks from this year, and different financing deals have been struck in that regard.

Airtel Nigeria is investing $1.5bn in network upgrade; Globacom, $1.25bn; MTN Nigeria, $3bn; and Etisalat, $1.2bn.

The suspension of mobile telephone services in the North-Eastern states affected by the state of emergency has also worsened the situation, our correspondent learnt, as most telecoms firms now have little or nothing to do in those areas as far as service provision and maintenance are concerned.

Our correspondent also gathered that because of the huge revenue loss the actions of the Boko Haram sect had caused operators, all the telecommunication companies with operation in the affected areas had invested in getting periodical security reports.

It was also gathered that aside the prevailing revenue loss, the telecoms operators were also concerned about the state of their multi-million dollar investments in the most affected states.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, the Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, said with the security situation in the areas, the company’s employees and contractors would be exposing themselves to very high risks in an attempt to return to the troubled areas.

“It is too dangerous to go back now. We are getting security reports on this. As soon as it is safe to go back, we will go back,” Evans said.

Aside Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, our correspondent learnt that the telecoms operators had developed cold feet on putting down funds to revamp network infrastructure in other states in the North due to their propensity for security threats.

A director in one of the mobile operators, who did not want to be identified because of the delicate nature of the matter, said, “The bank loans we collected must be repaid. As we speak, interests on them are fast accumulating.

“We can’t just go ahead and invest the money anywhere. Security is one thing we must guarantee because we take some critical investment decisions. We are still watching pending when the situation will improve. This is a decision every rational person will take.”

Our correspondent also gathered from an official of one of the mobile telecoms firms that since the declaration of state of emergency in the three northern states, over 90 per cent of its site engineers had been redeployed to other areas until there would be improvement in the security reports from the crisis areas.

In September last year, major providers of mobile telephony in the country had threatened to withdraw their services from the North. They hinged their threat on the spate of attacks on their base stations.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria also said its members were losing too much to the terrorist activities in the North and might close shop if it became too dangerous to operate in the region.

In September last year, telecoms services were disrupted in Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe and Kano states following the bombing of base stations by suspected Boko Haram terrorists.

PUNCH