GLOBAL BROADBAND USF
LEADERS FORUM 2012
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION:
PRESENTATIONS BY
THE SECRETARY, UNIVERSAL SERVICE PROVISION FUND
(USPF)
ABDULLAHI MAIKANO
ESTABLISHMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF USF
The Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) No 19 of 2003, Part IV
detail the Universal Service Provision in Nigeria known as the
Universal Service Provision Fund.
Section
115 establishes the USP Board with the mandate to supervise and provide
broad policy directions for the management of the USP Fund.
Section 118 establishes the USP Secretariat and states that it shall reside in the
Commission (NCC) and shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the
Universal Service Provision.
The Universal Access and Universal Service Regulation 2007
Section (2) states that “The ultimate objectives of the system of
universal access and universal service provision described in subparagraph (1) of the regulation are to:
promote
greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria; and
Contribute to national economic, social and cultural development of Nigeria
ESTABLISHMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF USF (CONT.)
The USP Secretariat carries out the general statutory mandate
of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on
Universal Access and Universal Service by:
‘… promoting the widespread availability and usage of
network services and application services throughout Nigeria
by encouraging the installation of network facilities and the
provision of network services and applications services to
institutions and in unserved, underserved areas or for
underserved groups within the community’
ESTABLISHMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF USF (CONT.)

The USPF became operational in 2007 with the inauguration
of the Board.

The Board of the USPF approved a Strategic Plan 2007 – 2011
which consists of five (5) broad goals to promote the
widespread availability and usage of network and applications
services throughout Nigeria (including unserved, underserved
areas or for underserved groups within the community)
These goals include:
To facilitate an Enabling Environment for ICT

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To promote Universal Access
To promote Universal Coverage
To facilitate Connectivity for Development (C4D)
To enable Institutional Development
USPF FUNDING
COLLECTION
Primary sources:
Appropriation
from national Assembly
Contributions from the NCC
Incomes from its operations and investments
Secondary Sources:
Gifts,
Aids, Donation
Loans, Grants
However, till date, the only collection has been contributions
from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which
is 1% of the 2.5% Annual Operating Levy (AOL) collected from
Licensed Operators
USPF FUNDING (CONT.)
DISTRIBUTION
USP Fund distribution is in two prongs:
Top down Projects
Bottom-ups projects
Top down Projects – These are universal service and universal
access projects that are conceived by the Secretariat to bridge the
ICT gaps in unserved and underserved areas or communities.
Bottom-ups projects: These are ICT self sustaining projects
designed by the public with the aim of providing ICT services to
organizations/communities. The projects that will be supported
by the USPF will be socially desirable and economically viable.
UTILIZING
USP
TRANSFORMATION
FOR
NATIONAL
EDUCATION
The USP Fund has implemented some projects for national
education transformation and these include:
1.School Access Projects (SAP) -The aim is to facilitate digital
lifestyle in the schools as well as in the school communities.
Each benefitting institution is provided with 100 Classmate
PCs and accessories as well as high speed internet
connectivity.
The schools are encouraged to share these facilities with
their surrounding communities on a commercial basis to
support maintenance and ensure sustainability where
specified.
UTILIZING USP FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION
(CONTD)
2. Tertiary Institutions Access Project (TiAP) – This project is
aimed at facilitating connectivity to broadband Internet with
speed of up to 1Mbps to tertiary institutions. The beneficiary
institutions receive 100 computers, 2 printers each including
network facilities and fire walls with broadband Internet
connectivity.
3. eLibrary Project - project is to provide platform for online
real time searchable portal for displaying library documents
and educational database to ensure that users have unlimited
access to wealth of knowledge, educational materials,
developmental issues and on wide range of subjects globally.
UTILIZING USP FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION
(CONT.)
It is envisaged that the various educational
transformation projects will lead to capacity
development in the ICT industry by encouraging
innovation amongst users to develop local version of the
various educational platforms in future and also add
value to the use of ICT.
UTILIZING USF FOR RURAL CONNECTIVITY,
TELECENTERS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROJECTS
BROADBAND
The USP Fund has deployed and is continually developing
projects that will help facilitate rural connectivity. These
programmes are:
a.Community Communication Centers - This initiative is a
partnership programme between the USPF and local
entrepreneurs to establish sustainable communication
centres that would drive developments within the benefiting
communities. The CCC is a community-based ICT centre
that is set up to provide telephony and internet services as
well as ICT-based training and other services on a shared
basis. 146 Centres have been deployed in various
communities.
UTILIZING USF FOR RURAL CONNECTIVITY,
TELECENTERS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROJECTS
BROADBAND
Accelerated Mobile Phone Expansion Project (AMPE) - This
initiative is designed to improve voice telephony coverage in
the country. The USP Fund subsidise the cost of building out
Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), which are essential
infrastructure for the extension of mobile telephony services to
unserved and underserved communities.
Over the past few years, the USPF working with the mobile
operators has enabled the construction of 59 BTS across
communities in remote unserved and underserved locations.
Without such collaboration, some of these communities may be
excluded from the ICT revolution for a much longer time.
Challenges

Sustainability of the Projects
 The issue of ownership of the projects by the benefiting communities/
institutions and adoption of ICT in everyday activity.

Connectivity via VSAT - high cost of providing internet access to
communities

Power challenges – Solar Panels vs. Generators
Current focus

Development of Strategic Management
Plan 2013 -2017
Focus shifting to broadband
infrastructure provision
Backbone Transmission (BTRAIN)
Rural Broadband Initiative (RUBI)
Backbone Transmission Infrastructure (BTRAIN) Programme:


This initiative will result in the build out of fibre transmission
backbone across the country. The programme is designed to ensure
that the National Transmission Backbone Infrastructure extends
access from state capitals and major cities to or links the unserved
and underserved areas to the National Transmission Backbone
Infrastructure.
The BTRAIN Programme will link Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) in the rural communities to modern communications
(broadband) infrastructure that would improve business operations.
In addition, the fibre transmission infrastructure is designed to also
link existing business clusters as well as institutions such as hospitals,
schools, cultural/heritage cites etc.
Rural Broadband Initiative (RUBI):

This programme will result in the provision of Internet
services and applications that would support socioeconomic activities in the unserved and underserved
communities as well as support other USPF
supported programmes such as CCC, SAP, TiAP, as
well as other institutions such as hospitals. The
initiative is to also facilitate the rapid take up other
applications and services centred on the internet in
the locations e.g. e-library, e-health, e-government
etc.

THANK YOU