The Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, on Monday said five states and the Federal Capital Territory are now ‘Smart States’.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos, Johnson said the “Smart State” initiative was geared at ensuring standardisation on levies charged by government at different levels.
She said in the statement: “This initiative is aimed at getting concessions from state governments to reduce or remove the Right of Way charges and other related fees imposed on telecom operators by the government.
“Bayelsa, Ondo, Katsina, FCT, Lagos and Cross Rivers States are already Smart City States, while Anambra, Delta, Gombe and Osun States have agreed to become Smart States.
“The Smart States initiative will help Nigeria meet its broadband target of a five-fold increase by 2017.
“States yet to join are encouraged to do so to accelerate the pace of broadband infrastructure roll-out within their states.”
The minister added that the issue of the Smart State initiative for the growth of the Information and Communications Technology industry and the Nigerian economy had been extensively deliberated on by the ministry.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Lagos State Government had earlier signed an agreement with the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria to reduce the cost of RoW charges.
The agreement was to reduce the charges from N3,000 to N500 per metre and a significant reduction of 85 per cent on the cost of RoW charges has been recorded in Lagos State.
NAN also reports that the aim of the Smart States initiative is to ensure that effective measures are adopted to remove arbitrary charges and eradicate multiple taxation across the country.
Research conducted by the Ministry of Communication Technology revealed that RoW charges, levies and taxes constitute about 70 per cent of the cost of rolling out telecom infrastructure in several states.
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