Professionals in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector said that although Nigeria has been rated third in terms of Internet penetration in Africa, the service is accessible to only 16 percent of Nigerians.
In a telephone interview, Muhammed Rudman, the chief executive officer of Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), said,
“I think the Internet penetration in Nigeria is okay, compared to other African countries.
“Nigeria is rated the third with Internet penetration, but there is still much development to be done as Internet coverage in Nigeria is 16 percent and its services are mostly in the urban areas. The rural areas and other urban areas do not have access to Internet connection, despite the fact that some of these areas do have mobile telecommunication services.”
According to Mr. Rudman, the main objective of the Internet exchange point (IXPN) in the country is to interconnect various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network operators to exchange traffic between their networks, generally referred to as autonomous systems, by means of mutual peering agreements, which allow traffic to be exchanged at no cost.
“We are making sure that the Internet connection would remain local, as all links to the Internet service can go through within the country than for the link to connect from outside the country and back,” added Mr. Rudman.
Challenges
Years after the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) name was launched in the country, many Nigerians are still sceptical about registering their companies or online businesses with .ng domain name.
He explained that the major obstacles to Nigerians’ unwillingness to associate with the .ng domain name include: lack of awareness, poor branding of the .ng domain name, and lack of credibility due to the cybercrime issues in the country.
“I think the major problem in associating with the .ng domain name has to do with its low awareness. I do not think people are aware that it exists. There is also the matter of branding; government needs to brand its product in order for it to grow. People believe that the .ng domain name does not portray the credibility of their business, especially outside the country. So, instead, they prefer to launch their businesses with the .net, .com, .co. uk, etc, which is a capital plight for the country,” added Mr. Rudam.
Lanre Ayaji, the president of Nigerian Internet Group (NIG) said that the Nigerian economy loses by the refusal of firms to register with the .ng domain name.
“Nigerians do not know the benefits in using the .ng domain name. If you are not registered with .ng and you have to register with another generic top-level domain (gTLD) name, you would be paying in dollar to the other country. But when you register with .ng, you would be paying in naira and saving money for the country” said Mr. Ajayi.
Solution
Experts are optimistic that the recent submarine cables connection would improve the Internet service in the country. Only recently, Main One launched its open access submarine cable system, which, when completed, will span 14000 kilometres and will provide international and Internet connectivity in the country.
“With the coming broadband connection, it is a major opportunity to improve Internet penetration,” Mr. Rudman said.
He, however, explained that the government must work to provide the right infrastructures to aid the Internet services.
“Infrastructure is still a major problem for the industry as the right infrastructures are not available. They have to be made available to aid the distribution on bandwidth to the remote areas.
“Also, government needs to subsidise the right of way for the operators to pass through. If the government is charging the operators too high, the cost would be passed on to the consumers. Most especially, government must also improve on power supply,” added Mr. Rudman.
Ugo Akiri, an official of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), said the use of the .ng domain name can help improve Nigeria’s image.
“The .ng domain name is a good instrument that will help to clean up the country’s image in terms of the negative use of the Internet these past years,” he said.