Abuja, Dec. 10, 2023 – The Katsina State Government has waived the payment of Right of Way (RoW) charges imposed on telecom operators by state governments.
Mr Ibrahim Kaula, the Chief Press Secretary to the Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, announced the development at the weekend.
The RoW charge is the levy imposed by state governments on telecom operators for laying optic fibre cables across their states. The rate varies from state to state.
The imposition of this levy has frustrated many telecommunication projects in the country.
The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) identified the RoW charges as one of the challenges that frustrated the Infrastructure Company (infraco) Licensing Project.
The project was aimed at achieving 70 percent broadband penetration in the country by 2025.
The Katsina State Government said the waiver of the charge was aimed at wooing telecom investors to the state.
Kaula said that the state governor had issued an Executive Order titled “Right of Way (RoW) charges Regulation Order 2023,” to give effect to the waiver.
He said the order was issued in exercise of the powers conferred on the state governor by Section (5)2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“This order may be cited as the Right of Way (RoW) charges (Regulation) Order and shall be deemed to come into effect on Dec. 8, 2023.
“From the commencement of the Order, charges on Right of Way (RoW) throughout the State shall be free of charge per linear metre,” he said.
Kaula said the RoW charge, as fixed by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), is N145 per linear meter.
He stressed that by the executive order, laying of the cable is now free in the state.
“I have no doubt that the move will soon attract investments for Katsina, especially in the areas of ICT and internet development,” Kaula said.
Katsina State is the second state to waive the RoW charge.
Kaduna State Government, under Nasir El-Rufai, waived the charge on telecom operators in 2020. (GBN)
