A new bill proposing to replace the Federal Government information technology (IT) development agency law is threatening the nation’s largest private local and international investment estimated at nearly $100 billion.
The bill is seeking to repeal the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act No 28 of 2007 with a new law that industry players say will wipe out their huge investments in the industry.
The players in the sector that will be affected by the proposed law include telephone operators (PNL/Fixed line operators, mobile network operators (MNOs)/Indirect Access (IDAs) operators, Infrastructure Providers (interconnect, data center operators, towers/base stations providers); Internet Services Providers (ISPs) (Wholesale Segment, Retail Segment), Value Added Services Providers (VAS), Over The Top (OTT) players, financial technology (fintech/e-commerce operators, telecom/ICT equipment manufacturers, telecom/ICT consulting firms, and telecom/ICT equipment dealers, have kicked against it.
Stakeholders, acting under the aegis of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and Association Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), at the weekend, warned against the passage of the bill in its current format as it is capable of wiping out all the gains the industry has made over the last two decades.
