USPF: Following rural connectivity money through FOI requests by Remmy Nweke - Telecoms Clinic @ITREALMS

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One of the least discussed yet most consequential drivers of digital inclusion in Nigeria is the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), a public fund established to ensure that people in rural, remote, and underserved areas are not left behind in access to communication services.

For more than a decade, the USPF has overseen programmes intended to expand network coverage, provide community ICT centres, support rural base stations, and strengthen last-mile broadband access. Yet, for many Nigerians, the central question remains unanswered: What has been the measurable outcome of these investments?

USPF Secretary applauds ITU, UK-FCDO’s partnership on Nigerian rural connectivity - ITREALMS

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The Secretary of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Yomi Arowosafe, has commended the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK FCDO), for their collaboration with Nigerian government to deepen rural connectivity for socio-economic development of the country.

Arowosafe gave the commendation at an Industry-Focused Stakeholders Engagement Session which was organised in Lagos over the weekend by the USPF in in collaboration with the UK FCDO and the ITU. The session built on USPF’s ongoing efforts to facilitate the achievement of wide network connectivity coverage in unserved and underserved communities across Nigeria.

USPF hands over emerging tech centre to OGITECH - ITREALMS

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The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has handed over a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project to the Ogun State Institute of Technology (OGITECH), Igbesa, Ogun State, reports ITREALMS.

The project named: Emerging Technologies Centre (ETC), sited at the Institute’s campus, ITREALMS gathered, is aimed at enhancing learning experience of students while providing a platform for digital innovation, research, and development (R&D) for the overall economic growth of Nigeria.

USPF Changemaker 2017: Team Nicademia emerges 1st prize winner

ITREALMS:

The 2017 edition of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) Changemaker Challenger ended at the weekend with the emergence of Nicademia team as star prize winners, reports ITRealms.

The event which held at Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Lagos,  an outlet of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); with the team comprising Chidinma Ezekwe, Valentine Ubaluo, Seriki Toluwalese, topping the list of finalists.

The Nicademia team, ITRealms gathered, developed educative cartoon application for easier learning of arts and cultures in different native languages and in English for the children. This could best be described as “African inspired cartoons made in Nigeria.”

ITRealms reports that Nicademia emergence followed pitching of the platform to the panel of judges among over 200 others.

The Nicademia team also went home with the sum of N1,000,000.00  star prize in addition to accepting participation in incubation programme . The Team Jiggle and Kano Magenta  respectively emerged second and third places with N750,000 and N500,000 prizes in that order.

ITRealms equally gathered that some  226 applications from the six geopolitical zones of the country were received for the contest by the judges including Prof Olusegun Okunnu, Mr. Yele Okeremi, Mr. Chinenye Mba -Uzoukwu, Dr Mrs. Amina Sambo Magaji and others were

Earlier in his address to the occasion, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta reiterated NCC’s resolve to measure development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria which speaks to the principle behind the creation of the Universal Service Provision Fund.

The EVC represented by the Head, USPF Strategy and Corporate Performance Monitoring unit, asserted that despite the remarkable success of the competition, NCC would continue to promote application of local innovation processes in ICT to boost employability of Nigerian youth, connection of government to the citizens, education and business entities for accelerated actions aimed at improving growth and development of the country.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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USPF takes zonal stakeholders engagement forum to Enugu

ITRealms:

The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) has held its zonal stakeholders engagement forum on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) utilization and sustainability in coal city, Enugu, Enugu State, reports ITRealms.

The forum, ITRealms gathered is part of USPF interventions to improve the livelihoods of unserved, underserved communities and groups in the areas of wealth creation, education, agriculture and health recently held a workshop in Enugu for the South East Zone to engage stakeholders on ICT utilization and sustainability.

ITRealms also reports that USPF’s Community Resource Centres (CRC), and the School Knowledge Centres (SKC), officials say are two intervention projects with potential to engender, create, and ensure community sharing and adoption of ICTs in everyday activities.

The workshop, ITRealms further reports, was designed to enhance the transformation and optimal use of these Centers as innovation hubs that can serve to incubate technology and promote socio-economic development in Nigerian communities.

ITRealms recalls that the Fund, established under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, is a department of the Nigerian Communications Commission that facilitates the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria.

Accordingly, the Fund is being managed to facilitate the widest possible access to affordable telecommunications tools, applications and services for greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria.

Ozo Nweke Ozo/GEE

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Pix: USPF team at South East Stakeholder meeting.

USPF reduces access gap by 2% in two years

ITRealms:

The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) has reduced the access gap in Nigeria by two per cent within the last two years, reports ITRealms.

Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta disclosed this at a one-day USPF ‘Focused Industry Stakeholders’ Forum and Hackathon Award at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, last weekend.

Danbatta explained that USFPF has facilitated the reduction from 36.8 million (24.5 per cent) in 2013 to 33.7 million (22.5 per cent) in 2015 based on the Access Gap study and using the 150 million population benchmark.

The event which theme this year was 'Universal Access: Eliminating the Inclusion Barriers' also saw EVC reiterating that USPF, which is an arm of the Commission, would play significant role in the facilitation of broadband penetration; improve quality of service; promote ICT innovations and investment opportunities and facilitate strategic collaboration and partnership.

Prof. Danbatta also spoke on the serious need to look at Federal and State policies that are not friendly to the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure in the country.

He lamented the current level of the ICT infrastructure in the country, saying that it has led to limited development.

The Commission, he further disclosed, plans to issue licences to Infracos to cover the five remaining geo-political zones in Nigeria namely: South West, South, South East, North East and North West.

“Already, North Central and Lagos zones have been awarded Infraco licences to IHS and Main One Cable company,” he said..

ITRealms recalls that the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established within the Nigerian Communications Commission by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served Nigeria’s communities.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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USPF to use Access Gap study for interventions – Johnson

ITRealms:

Chairman of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and Honourable Minister of Communication Technology (CommTech) Dr. Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has asserted that importance of the recently concluded Access Gap study by the USPF, saying it would be used for adequate interventions, reports ITRealms.

Speaking at the recently relaunched website for USPF in Lagos, Mrs. Johnson told ITRealms that the new website and launch of ICT Gap clusters would boost the intervention of USPF in the country.

According to her, subsequently, the USPF will utilize these clusters to identify target areas, define Universal Access Service (UAS) and map the interventions respectively to the appropriate communities.

“We will also share the results of the study with the telecoms operators to enable them get a detailed view of the needs and demands of the market and assist them in developing roll out plans for these unreached areas,” she told ITRealms.

Johnson stressed that the nation forges ahead, the greatest wish of this administration, she told ITRealms, is to continue to collaborate with the telecom operators towards closing access gap in the country and set Nigeria on the path of being a full digitalized nation.

“We trust that we can rely on you to continue to be our trusted partners in deploying and delivering sustainable and impactful projects,” she said.

Mrs. Johnson further applauded participants at the forum, saying it’s a clear signal that as stakeholders, “we all share the same vision.”

Just as she emphasised that the results of the study, would be useful to clarify the results and how best they could be turned into projects for enhancing services to the communities.

“We hope to conclude this forum with a shared understanding about what to do and what our roles are in accomplishing what we have resolved to do such that when we leave this room all that will be left to do is to Execute! Execute!! Execute!!!” she concluded.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) @USPFNG +Efem Nkanga @NGRCOMMTech @NgComCommission +ITU 

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Pix: Johnson and USPF secretary, Maikano

ATCON urges restructuring of USPF, others

The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has called for the restructuring of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).

The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal service and universal access to Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria as part of the actions in fulfillment of the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2005.

Catching in on this objective, ATCON, through its president, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu said that the restructure of USPF is imminent.

According to him, restructuring of USPF and other fund sources to promote local investment, research and development (R&D) as well as total access will boost ICT adaption and development in the country.

This, he said, will also boost anticipation by stakeholders that by 2015, telecom consumers in the country will begin to enjoy full mobile number portability and free roaming.

Additionally, he said, the suggestion of restructuring when taken up as prescribed has the capacity to turn telephony into an empowerment tool for the populace.

ATCON equally calls for radicalisation of spectrum availability and allocation by the regulator, in order to adequately protect consumer interest by promoting informed consent, transparency and accountability in quality of service, tariff, and usage.

Omo-Ettu noted that transiting substantially to new Internet Protocol (IPv 6) and encouraging an ecosystem for provision of ‘A Significantly Large Bouquet of Services on IP Platform’ cannot be over looked.

Omo-Ettu, ATCON president

He further said that recognising the peoples’ ‘Right To Broadband’ would be a strong indication to increase rural teledensity to over 80 in 100 per cent by 2020.

He summed it up by saying that Nigerians want good service, not reasons why it is non-existent, which must be professional delivered by NCC in appreciation of the Communications Act, thus having more bites at faster speed.

As said by him, the damage that poor electricity has done, he said, deserves that Nigerians mark power reform managers closely.

In order to achieve the aforementioned, Omo-Ettu’s leadership at ATCON said that Service Level Agreement (SLA) between service providers and consumer must exist followed by adequate enforcement based on global best practises.

Individual consumers, he advised, should assert their rights to seek redress, stressing that attitude of consumers must shift from nonchalance to seeing to conclusion of what they really want.

He stressed that the damage caused by poor electricity deserves close marking of power reform managers.

Remmy Nweke
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