By: Nghiinomenwa Erastus
As the country tries to ride the digital wave, the demand for more ICT infrastructure like towers has increased. However, deployment of such infrastructure is being delayed by access to land for sites.
These are the revelations from the management and board of the telecommunication infrastructure company, PowerCom, at the Veddersdal tower launch, Okahandja, last week.
PowerCom chief executive officer Beatus Amadhila explained that as Namibians increasingly continue to make ICT a daily part of their lives, communities, businesses, private institutions, and government institutions will also be compelled to ride the digital wave.
Despite such trends being observed and Powercom acting to meet infrastructural gaps, barriers hinder the deployment of such infrastructures.
Amadila explained that the Veddersdal tower launched last week is part of six sites they started constructing in the first quarter of the current financial year to the combined tune of about N$7.2million.
He, however, admitted that “this is not the speed we are happy with, as we initially planned to construct between four and 60 towers during the current financial year ending on 30 September 2022”.
He said that owing to external factors beyond our control, PowerCom could not meet its target in terms of the number of towers we planned to erect in the previous strategic plan period.
Amadhila further explained that they are struggling to deliver on their plans because of land approval from local authorities, which approve their application at a snail’s pace.
“The reason we are struggling is mostly related to the land approval process, which takes too long with some local authority councils especially, which slow our progress dismally,” stated Amadhila.
This is evident in the fact that they only managed to successfully erect and commission about nine towers in the previous five-year strategic plan cycle that ended on 30 September 2021.
The nine towers have a combined value of roughly about N$9 million, of which six of these nine towers are to be accounted for in the current financial year.
PowerCom is also on track to construct 17 more towers to the combined estimated value of N$21.6 million.
Construction of eleven of these seventeen towers is due to commence in the next two to three weeks.
Amadhila indicated that to accomplish their infrastructure rollout plan, they will have to collaborate closely with local authorities and other relevant institutions to accelerate the approval of land applications and to ensure speedy and smooth Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) process.
“I am mentioning this because Land acquisition and finalisation of EIA’s are some of the vital steps that we have to clear before we can commence with the construction of towers.”
He said the acceleration of approval would help PowerCom meet the targets set out in their strategic plan and enable many Namibians to be connected to mobile, radio, television and internet services offered by the various operators.
Amadhila updated that to accelerate the rollout of towers in the next five years, PowerCom envisages erecting not less than 500 towers to the tune of plus/minus N$600 million in the next five years.
He indicated that PowerCom is currently in the process of awarding eleven more sites to the successful bidders to the tune of a combined value of N$14.4 million, with anticipation of construction to commence within the next two to three weeks.
PowerCom board chairperson Eldorette Harmse in her remarks at the same event, stressed the same issue of access to land for the ICT infrastructure, saying that there is potential to roll out more towers countrywide in a shorter space of time.
However, it all depends “if we can address challenges such as timely securing land and expediting the process of obtaining Environmental Clearance Certificates”.
She said the efforts would make it easier for companies in the ICT sector to set up infrastructure in an agile manner.
This is especially true if local authorities incorporate ICT infrastructure in their planning and consider ICT not a luxury but an essential and fundamental right that should be accessible by all Namibians, Harmse explained.
Harmse said it is essential in the greater scheme of being an enabler in enhancing mobile and internet connectivity and enabling radio and television broadcasting to the people of Namibia via the PowerCom infrastructure sharing business model.
“We are intensely aware that the success or failures of our clients and, by extension, the operators’ clients, directly and indirectly, depends on the strength and quality of the infrastructure we deploy,” she said.
Harmse explained that some of their key stakeholders and customers include but are not limited to telecommunications companies, radio and television broadcasters, and internet service providers.
There are also security companies and neighbourhood watch associations, municipalities, logistic companies providing road, rail, and marine transport services, as well as regulators like CRAN and Environmental Commission.
She also emphasised that the maintenance and protection of the towers are a collective responsibility.
Every Namibian must jealously guard against the destruction of telecommunication assets.
Harmse added that at the cost of plus/minus N$1 million per tower, “you will agree with us that putting up these towers is a necessary but costly exercise.”
She said it is, in fact, more costly to repair or replace vandalised towers continuously.
Accessing digital superhighways will seek locals to protect their telecommunication assets.
Telecom Namibia wholly owns PowerCom, and it provides ICT infrastructures. Email: erastus@thevillager.com.na
