The Chief Executive of Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited (Nigcomsat), Engr. Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, has allayed fears by stakeholders that the passage of the NigComSat Corporation Bill will suffocate private sector operators.
Ahmed-Rufai said that contrary to fears from some quarters, the bill would increase availability of bandwidth.
He said, “the downstream sector should benefit immensely from the increased availability of bandwidth, and opportunities to partner with NIGCOMSAT for the delivery of services,” adding that NIGCOMSAT has no domestic competitors, as there are no other indigenous communication satellite operators. However, NIGCOMSAT is in competition with foreign satellite operators such as YAHSAT, INTELSAT and SES NEW SKIES who also provide bandwidth for the Nigerian market. Rather than being called competitors, the private sector players are partners, “so such fears are indeed, misplaced”.
He said the international equivalents of NIGCOMSAT include INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, China SATCOM among other satellite operators. “These are all commercial satellite operators that had legislation backing their creation in all their respective countries”.
He explained in a statement that: “NIGCOMSAT Ltd is a commercial satellite operator; it is concerned with the management and operation of communication satellites on a commercial basis. To this end, NIGCOMSAT is mandated to procure communication satellites from any source for its business operations whereas National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is a research agency mandated to implement the National Space Policy and develop indigenous capacity in basic space sciences”.
The Nigcomsat helmsman said that there are no provisions within the Bill or elsewhere that elevates NIGCOMSAT to the position of a regulator.? NIGCOMSAT operates a Direct-to Home broadcasting centre, which is a transmission centre and subject to the regulation of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
NIGCOMSAT is also subject to the regulation of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) as a satellite operator and that is it.
In a statement by the Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore, the chief executive, emphasized that there is no duplication of functions with other government bodies, because NIGCOMSAT provides a medium to commercialise any of the research products derived from NASRDA. NIGCOMSAT and NASRDA are therefore, complementary and provide a good synergy for the development of the domestic space industry. NIGCOMSAT does not perform any regulatory functions in the area of broadcasting, satellite communications or frequency management; rather, it remains subjected to the relevant regulators in each field.
On whether the bill will not create another NITEL, Ahmed-Rufai said NITEL is a telecoms operator, whilst NIGCOMSAT is a commercial satellite operator.? NIGCOMSAT provides critical infrastructure that NITEL and others can use to deliver telecoms services.
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