Nigeria, and the Republic of Niger have agreed bilaterally in Abuja, to coordinate frequency usage along their borders to guarantee the smooth deployment of services between the two nations. This happened at a 2-day conference which held at the Transcorp Hilton.
The signing ceremony was one of the highlights of the two-day Digital Economy Regional Conference, which was held in Nigeria and was organized by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy for Nigeriia, and Mr. Moussa Baraze, Minister of Post and New Information Technologies for Niger, both signed on behalf of their respective nations.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta and Niger Republic’s Chairperson of the National Council for Regulation of Electronic Communications and Post, Mrs. Aichatou Oumani, were witnesses to the agreement, which applies to the co-ordination of frequencies existing in the Nigeria-Niger transboundary areas between 87.5 megahertz (MHz) to 30 gigahertz (GHz).
The agreement indicated it will help in effective coordination and sharing of frequencies and channels in the ‘buffer zone or area’ on borderlines between the two countries and also help to address one of the major issues of signal interference regulation that may arise in telecoms signal transmissions by terrestrial telecoms service providers, as it spells out the procedures for regulating such cases.
According to the two parties, the agreement stipulates, among other things, that in the event of adverse interference affecting one of the parties, the affected party shall notify the other party in writing so that the required steps can be taken.
“Also, the party from whence the interference is originating shall ensure that all necessary means are used to resolve the harmful interference within 30 days of receipt of the notice”, the agreement says.
While the Agreement is without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the parties specified in the Convention, the Constitution of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other inter-governmental arrangements, it states, however, that the land and mobile services which use is restricted for security, maritime and national defense or for which information is not available, shall not be subjected to the provisions of the agreement.
