Gwandu: Why Telecom Sector Needs More Spectrum

Telecommunications expert,  Bashir Gwandu, who in acting capacity was at one time Executive Vice Chairman EVC/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the immediate past EVC/CEO, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), in this interview with Oluchi Chibuzor, speaks on the importance of more spectrum allocation in telecoms sector, how Nigeria can appropriate its wherewithal for more spectrum allocation in the coming WRC in 2027, Quality of Service (QoS) delivery and other engaging concerns in telecoms ecosystem…Excerpts

What is spectrum in a lay man’s language?

In simple terms, spectrum refers to the range of different radio waves that are used for all kinds of wireless communications. It is like a highway, but for information, where different vehicles, in this case; phone calls, internet data, radio signals, TV broadcasts, aircraft communication, ship communication, radar signal, etc. travels. Just like a highway road has different lanes for different types of cars (buses, motorcycles, etc.), the spectrum has different frequencies or “bands” that are used for the different purposes. Regulators around the world manages and organizes these frequencies, making sure each type of communication doesn’t interfere with others, just like a number of vehicles  on different road-lanes heading to same or even opposite directions move without collision or interference with the other lane occupants. Just as too many cars on the same road can cause a traffic jam or interfere with others, or put pressure on other drivers, many signals using the same frequency can cause interference. Thus, proper spectrum management is very important for smooth telecom services operations.

What role does it play in telecommunications operations terrestrial/satellite?

In both telecommunications and satellite operations, spectrum plays a crucial role in enabling communication by providing the necessary frequencies to transmit and receive signal. Both the telecom networks and satellites use it to send signals. It is used for phone-calls, internet, and it is also used for communication between earth stations and satellites, as well as for other services like global position system (GPS) navigation and even weather monitoring. In short, without spectrum, wireless communication would not be possible, whether it is for talking on the phone, browsing the internet, or receiving signals from satellites orbiting the earth.

Is the 600MHz being put up by ITU not too small for Africa?

 Please note that Africa is not looking for a total of 600MHz (megahertz) from International Telecommunications Union (ITU). At least that is not my understanding. If you are referring to our effort on the 600MHz band allocation for region 1 of the ITU, as I explained earlier, just like a highway has different lanes for different types of cars, radio spectrum has different set of frequencies or “bands” that are used for the different purposes. 

The 600MHz band i.e. 614-694MHz, is one of such bands that we think can significantly benefit our people in Africa if allowed to be used for telecoms services, and that is why technical experts from Africa have been pushing for its sharing-studies and its eventual primary allocation to mobile services at various World Radiocommunications (WRCs) right from the conclusion of WRC-12 when I was at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Unfortunately, only few countries benefited from our efforts to get its primary allocation to mobile at WRC-23. We are still advocating for African countries to unite and secure the allocation even via the entry into the Footnote 5.307A (Footnote 5.307A is allocation reserved for a country or some countries) in the ITU Radio Regulations, through entering such Footnote en masse at the next WRC that is coming up in 2027. The benefit to gross domestic products (GDPs) of various African countries that are able to secure such entry into the Footnote is very significant and therefore no African country should be left behind in joining such Footnote for primary allocation. I only hope that at WRC-27 there would not be blocking of countries wishing to join the Footnote by others that are not ready to do so. I believe there is solution to accommodate various interests.

What is the role of ATU and ITU in this allocation?

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) can help to coordinate its members and provide forum for discussions on the matter among Africans. It can also work with the African Union Commission (AUC) to ensure that no African country blocks another African country from joining the Footnote 5.307A for primary allocation. It is the role of member states of the ITU to make the allocations when they meet at WRCs under the umbrella of the ITU, the United Nations (UN) body. The ITU Secretariat only provides secretarial function in this case. Of course, the secretariat is full of experts that can help with capacity building, re-planning of existing TV stations in the band, and many other technical support and guidance. The ITU is neutral when it comes to allocation decisions; they implement what the members decide on.

Can African countries work together on this 600 MHz?

Sure, that is my hope, and by God’s grace, it will happen. From 2006 when we organised and led an ATU WRC Coordination Meeting of Experts towards WRC-07, and to date, African countries and experts have always worked together to deliver significant benefit and protect the interest of African countries. We, as engineers, have achieved so much by leading such cooperation. I can name a few of our key achievements in the area of Mobile Spectrum Allocation. Starting from the work of the African team on Agenda Item 1.4 of ITU WRC-2007, which was the turning point for Africa on spectrum and ITU WRC matters, in that conference, we secured the primary allocation of 450MHz band (i.e. 450-470MHz), first Digital Dividend Spectrum 800MHz-4G band (i.e. 790–862MHz), and the 3.5GHz  5G band (i.e. 3.4–3.6GHz) all for mobile, and the bands were identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for the region. At WRC-12, we led the successful technical arguments, planning, and the eventual allocation of the 700MHz 5G band i.e. the second Digital Dividend Spectrum. At WRC-2019, we also led the African team charge with the task of ensuring the IMT Identification of frequency bands including: 24.25– 27.5 GHz (with appropriate Earth Exploration Satellite Service (EESS) protection), 37–43.5 GHz, 45.5–47 GHz, 47.2–48.2 and 66–71 GHz bands, for the deployment of 5G, a task that we successfully delivered. At the same conference, we ensured that frequency bands 3.6-3.8GHz, upper 6GHz, and 10GHz are included in the agenda for Identification for IMT at WRC-23, whilst reducing constraints in other bands such as the 4.8GHz band. At WRC-23, we only managed to secure the primary mobile allocation of 600MHz for Egypt in Africa, whereas 10 other countries were blocked including Nigeria, unfortunately by other African nations that were not ready to proceed. Despite that, we were still able to ensure that the 600MHz allocation door was open using an allocation to Arab Spectrum Management Group (ASMG)- Middle East countries. We also ensured the identification of the upper 6GHz (i.e. 6.425-7.125MHz) and 3.3-3.8GHz and 10.5GHz band for IMT for the whole Region 1. These are just to mention some, and not all, of our achievements in this space. I have not even elaborated on our achievements on the satellite domain, and indeed on standardization matters that are also many. To God be the glory, we can confidently say that our team of engineers from Africa and our partners the ASMG can claim nearly unparalleled record of delivering for our people in this regard, and during these conferences. Well, it is another topic to discuss the billions of USDs that governments of ITU Region-1: Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) countries have generated via these efforts that we have made, either through licensing or auctions revenues, or the impact on GDP contributions. I can venture to say that European countries of the region have cashed-in much earlier than Africa to harness the benefit of these works.

What is the difference between WRC-23 and WRC-27?

WRC stands for World Radio-communication Conference. It is a major global Conference organized by the ITU, where representatives from member countries gather to discuss and make decisions on the allocation and management of radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits. The WRC helps establish global rules for the use of radio frequencies, which are essential for various communications services, including mobile networks, broadcasting, and satellite communications. World Radio communication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) and World Radio communication Conference 2027 (WRC-27) are two different world conferences of the ITU.

How can Nigeria take advantage of its size and wealth to get a good chunk of the allocation in 2025?

There is no allocation conference in 2025, the next one is in 2027, i.e. WRC-27. The size and wealth of countries can help in their ability to finance delegates to participate. But the most important thing that helps is the expertise of the engineers and scientists as well as their commitment to the work. Countries do send their bests, or their first eleven (11) to secure what they are looking for in most cases. Delegates must be able to present their technical arguments, facts, proofs, results of simulations, or calculations etc. to convince others that their technical proposals is good and takes care of all interests with minimal negative impact on others that can be mitigated.

What is the interplay of politics and the developed nations in the allocation?

Well, of course, every country tries to get the best for its citizens, and that is why some countries like the United States send in experts from National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), universities, and the military, top technical companies and even appoint an ambassador for each conference to make sure that its interest is protected. Given the level of development of our nations, and how we started in 2006, we as Africa, have been doing quite well, I believe.

Any other issues and concern?

I don’t have any major worries. I only hope that African leadership will appreciate the strategic nature of these activities and give maximum support. I have seen countries that have among their delegates’ engineers that have been doing this work for 50 plus years. One can only imagine the experience that they bring to bear on the work, and how they can use it to benefit their countries. From My personal experience, I have worked closely with technical experts from all the major nations of this world. Most of them have worked to support us in our drive to bring home the benefits of broadband communications to our people. I have on many occasions secured the support of US, Japan, and China against the opposition of their traditional known allies. Once they know that you are focus on results that can improve the lives of your people, and you are able to present convincing technical justifications, with facts and figures, and with no negative impact on them that cannot be mitigated technically, they will support you. A lot of them are scientists first, and politicians second. That is what is more exciting about these activities.

Despite huge investment in telecoms infrastructure, why is QoS is very bad?

Now, coming back to Nigerian issues, I have to say that Quality of Service (QoS) in telecommunications is affected by many factors and it is difficult to discuss all, in short span of time, and that is why when I was in NCC, we developed QoS Regulation which enumerate many of the relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for good service quality. Almost all those KPIs listed in the regulation affects the QoS or Quality of Experience (QoE) in one way or another.  However, to narrow the issue down, since we are using wireless communications mainly in Nigeria we can talk of coverage and capacity. Both coverage and capacity are affected by either the spectrum or infrastructure. I gave example of congestion on road and interference. Interference can disrupt quality, it is just like you are talking to someone at a party venue with large crowd and music playing, either you raise your voice power or the person next to you will not be hearing anything you are saying. With telecom, signal power has to be higher than the power of the interfering noise for the message to get across. So, for people on fringes of cell coverage, the receiving signal power has to be high enough above the noise otherwise the signal will be lost. The call can also drop whenever there is no continuity of coverage between cells. Therefore, the network designers and regulators need to ensure that there are no gaps that are uncovered between different coverage cells. If there are no gaps that are uncovered, the hand-over between cells is seamless. Having said that, if there is sufficient spectrum (meaning there are many carriers of the signal) then more communication signals from more people or systems can be accommodated. However, if the size of spectrum slot is limited, it may not carry so much. The only other way is to have what we call frequency re-use, meaning more tower sites, and more infrastructure spending. So, either you have more spectrum or more tower sites (and thus capital expenditure and operational costs). This is why we as engineers, always try to support the country in getting more spectrum allocation because when you have more spectrum allocations, you are saved from spending more on tower sites and thus can charge lower tariffs. Also, some spectrum like the 600MHz or 700MHz band which can use one tower site to cover an area where, for example, you will need more than three tower sites including generators, etc, to cover same if using say 2.6GHz band. It is simple law of physics that lower spectrum band has better penetration or distance coverage than the higher spectrum band. The higher spectrum band can then be used to cover densely populated places since it has more signal carriers or ‘lanes’. So, spending on infrastructure can help to improve the quality where spectrum is less and very often it is less. It is important to note that you need the tower signal to reach the location of subscriber with enough power for such subscriber to communicate well. So, either we use spectrum that can reach, or ramp-up power within the regulated limit, to reach the subscriber. For operators with small amount of spectrum to compete with those that have larger chunks of spectrum, the one with smaller amount of spectrum will have to deploy more sites, meaning more costs and in the same minutes-of-call market. This will naturally spell doom for those operators with smaller spectrum. That is the reason why the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators could not survive the competition in this country. It is almost as simple as that. I have seen many opinions that are not correct in this regard. The market has to be properly designed by the regulator so that there will be sustainability. It is important to also say that in recent times, however, diesel has become more expensive, and we all know that most tower sites are running continuously on diesel. This will naturally eat into the margins of the operators, and will surely make it difficult to continuously sustain lower margins or even losses. It is either they are able to make enough to pay for operating expenditure and growth or there will be time when they will no longer have anywhere to pick money from, in order to sustain the operations. Once a tower site is down due to diesel non-availability the impact will cascade to other sites, especially for a hub-site, and surely poor quality of service will result. So, there has to be a balance between the interest of subscribers, the government, the investors, and the operators. Importantly, the goose that lays the golden egg must be allowed to survive. It is the responsibility of the regulators to protect the operators from even the government, just as it is the responsibility of the regulators to protect consumers from the operators. Only when this is done properly that we would have good quality of services. That is why the regulators’ independence is very important. Once regulators independence is compromised, everyone will pay the price, and in the end there will be no winner.