By Adekunle Adekoya

AVID watchers of developments in the telecommunications sector would have known that the Federal Government has issued right of way (RoW) guidelines for the laying of cables on federal highways in a bid to make life easier for telcos who desire to lay cables for their various operations.

The guidelines, Vanguard leant, mandates telcos to co-locate so that incidences of multiple digging will be avoided or reduced to the barest minimum, while applications for RoWs are to be treated and granted or refused as the case may be within one month.

More importantly, chargeable access fees for laying of ICTSP ducts and cables were pegged at N145 per linear metre and N20 per linear metre as annual maintenance access fees, subject to periodic reviews at five year intervals or whenever compelling circumstances demand such reviews.

This is a welcome development, but some issues are thrown up, which the ruling elite in government from all the political parties at federal, state, and local levels must rise to and solve.

First, the RoWs are applicable to federal highways, and fees payable will accrue to federal coffers. It must be borne in mind that cables will have to pass through or intersect or traverse state and federal roads, and in a federal system, the states and local governments will also charge their own fees.

This means that telcos desiring to lay fibre optics cables for broadband, for instance will have to pay different charges to federal, state, and local governments. For an industry that is already burdened with multiple taxation in form of demand notices from states and local governments, it would be helpful if a one-stop point is made available in respect of RoW payments.

For instance, a cable running along Ikorodu Road in Lagos, a federal artery, to connect the University of Lagos (yes, University of Lagos), will have to run through and across several state and local roads. That means after paying FG, the telco will have to pay LASG, and Yaba LG, Bariga LG before it can work, and doubtless, they will be charging differently.

I think that in all our interest, the Ministry of Communications Technology should seek to make RoW charges uniform nationwide, irrespective of whether it’s a state or federal road.

Besides, legal issues will definitely be thrown up here. Legislation on telecommunications is on the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 Constitution, a grundnorm that at the same time emphasizes our federal configuration as a nation. If states and LGs can charge RoWs on their roads for telcos, it means they can legislate to that extent on telcos. Which is why using the Joint Tax Board in this matter might prove painless and cost efficient to all concerned at the end of the day.

Again, the proviso that the RoW charges can be reviewed whenever compelling circumstances demand such reviews is too open ended for comfort. I can envisage a situation where a state governor or LG chairman seeking to boost his IGR base will wake up and increase RoW charges upwards several times fold without prior notice, thus holding the affected telco to ransom.

In all of these, all concerned, especially state and local governments should appreciate the importance of these cables to national development; in fact, we should all see it as CNI (Critical National Infrastructure). If we want cash-less economy, and indeed, an automated, 21st- century economy, we have to support the telcos.