Servicom Charter

INTRODUCTION

The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and underserved areas in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) No 19 of 2003, Part IV detail the Universal Service

Provision (USP) in Nigeria. Section 115 of the Act established the Universal Service Provision Board with the mandate to supervise and provide broad policy directions for the management of the USP Fund.

Section 118 of the Act established the USP Secretariat and states that it shall reside in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Universal Service Provision.

The Universal Service Provision Secretariat is structured into nine (9) departments namely;

Office of the Secretary
Information Technology Projects
Infrastructure Projects
Internal Audit
Strategy , Corporate Performance Monitoring
Legal and Secretarial Services
Funding & Subsidy
Procurement
Corporate Services

LOCATION

9th Floor, Nigerian Communication Commission Plot 423 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja. Nigeria

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

Secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF)

Mr. Yomi S. Arowosafe

Tel: 09-4617000 ext-7446

Email: oarowosafe@ncc.gov.ng

MISSION

To facilitate universal service and access to ICT, through partnerships to stimulate development in rural, unserved and underserved communities.

VISION

ICT Access for All

USPF STRATEGIC GOALS

The Three (3) strategic goals identified by the USPF from 2018 to 2022 in order to drive the achievement of its mandate were reviewed and found still relevant, and as such, adopted with modifications. USPF recognises the need to place priority on building the capacity of the USP Secretariat thus ensuring the possession of relevant, up-to-date information on the ICT industry to guide the design and implementation of USP projects. The other Two (2) strategic goals are geared towards achieving the USPF vision. The strategic goals of the USPF are outlined below:

USPF Strategic Goals

Goal 1: Facilitate an enabling environment for sustainable ICT

Objective:

Identify the impediments to the rollout and demand of ICT services in rural, unserved, and underserved areas,
Design incentives that would promote the rollout of sustainable ICT services in rural, unserved and underserved areas.

Strategies:

Carry out relevant studies to determine the demand indices for different categories of ICT services within the country.
Continuous consultation with Stakeholders in the telecommunications industry to identify the issues that prevent the market from functioning effectively.
Continuous consultation and collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission and relevant government agencies to design, plan and implement USPF programmes and projects.
Facilitate programmes that promote digital skills and transformation
Provide subsidy to encourage the roll out of ICT infrastructure in rural unserved and underserved areas

Goal 2: Promote universal access and service that facilitate ICT for development (ICT4D)

Objectives:

Facilitate the availability and use of transmission infrastructure and connectivity to the national backbone in all LGAs.
Drive increasing access to community-based ICT services on a shared basis and provide a platform for universal service.

Strategies

Provide subsidies or other forms of incentives to telecom operators and eligible service providers to extend ICT transmission infrastructure to identified unserved and underserved areas.
Explore opportunities to deploy a full suite of universal access and universal service initiatives to build utilisation and sustainability of ICT projects.
Ensure the co-location and sharing of infrastructure subsidised by USPF.
Continuous consultations and collaboration with government agencies, non-profit organisations, and community based organisations to facilitate connectivity for development initiatives.
Encourage community ownership of universal service projects and consequently, promote entrepreneurship in target communities.

Goal 3: Institutional Development

Objectives:

Strengthen the USP Secretariat to deliver on its mandate effectively.
Continuously update organizational processes, performance measurement systems and partnerships that allow the USP Secretariat to successfully monitor, evaluate and assess the impact of USPF programmes.

Strategies:

Ensure alignment of the USP Board and Secretariat’s structure and functions with the vision and strategic goals of USPF.
Identify and execute capacity-building initiatives that will equip the USP Secretariat with the relevant skills required to drive the achievement of the USPF’s strategic goals.
Identify, engage and work with relevant organisations and individuals as strategic partners.
Develop and implement processes that will drive standardisation and efficient service delivery in the Secretariat.
Implement Performance Management Systems Monitoring and Evaluation of USPF projects to ascertain if the objectives of the programmes and projects are being achieved.

Goal 4: Sustainable collaboration with relevant stakeholders

Objectives:

Facilitate support and obtain stakeholders buy-in to achieve the USPF mandate

Strategies:

Continuous engagement of relevant stakeholders
Creation of awareness and sensitisation of beneficiaries

SERVICE PROVISON

To ensure that ICT is available in rural, un-served and under-served areas/groups in Nigeria.
To ensure that the project implementers deliver cost effective, quality and innovative ICT services in the USPF project sites.
Keeping stakeholders abreast of the development in the telecom sector.
Meeting up with governmental and constitutional requirements on the implementation of the USPF’s Projects.

SERVICE DELIVERY

In discharging the above services the Secretariat promptly attends to customers/stakeholders and staff needs and enquiries via the following mediums:

Letters
Point of contact.
Emails to
Social Media: Twitter, Facebook & Instagram
USPF website : complaint/enquiry & feedback forms

The Secretariat ensures at all times that services are discharged in consonance with the USPF’s core values of Integrity, Collaboration, Team Spirit, Transparency, Innovation, Professionalism and Service Excellence (ICT TIPS)

MONITORING AND PUBLISHING

The Secretariat periodically monitors customer’s perceptions of its services by conducting stakeholder’s consultation forums. Feedbacks via the USPF website are evaluated and areas of improvement are addressed immediately.

DETAILS OF STAKEHOLDERS

The Presidency
National Assembly
Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy
ICT un-served and under-served people, groups or institutions in Nigeria
Nigerian Telecom and ICT Organizations
Government Agencies
SERVICOM
Project Implementers
Technical Auditors
International Organization (International Telecommunications Union, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization etc.)
ICT Industry Experts
The Press
General Public

EXPECTATION AND OBLIGATIONS OF CUSTOMERS, STAFF AND MANAGEMENT

CUSTOMERS

Customer is expected to work with the Secretariat to establish clear expectations for the program/project and a clearly defined and timely approval process for documents.
Customer is expected to maintain a constant flow of open, honest communication with the Secretariat to address opportunities and problems, as well as successes and concerns.
Customers can expect to get documents and information that meet their needs from the Secretariat that they can trust.
Customers’ interests will be at the heart of how the Secretariat does business.
Meeting customers’ fair and reasonable expectations will be the responsibility of the Secretariat.

STAFF AND MANAGEMENT

Management and Staff as a basic requirement are bound to discharge their responsibilities completely, competently and promptly by keeping themselves abreast of the affairs of the Secretariat, Commission and the industry as well as the laws and regulations.
Management and staff are bound to focus all their energy on building an organization that will be deemed a good corporate citizen.
Management and staff are bound to crafts communications policies and oversee the development of all statements and news releases for the Secretariat.
Management and staff are bound to provide communications that must be clear, concise and relevant to the audience.

GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM

Stakeholders are enjoined to seek redress by calling or preferably writing to the Secretariat as details:

The Secretary

Attn: Babatunde Amupitan

Corporate Services Department, Room 913

Universal Service Provision Secretariat

Nigerian Communication Commission

Plot 432 Aguiyi Ironsi Street

Maitama, Abuja

Tel: 09 -4617000 ext-7483

Email:

The Secretariat will acknowledge all complaints / enquiries or feedback within 48hours of receipt and have them treated on or before 5 working days.

STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATION IN SERVICE PROVISION

To help the department discharge its duties, customers are expected to:

Be fully informed of the department’s Servicom Charter.
Follow the laid down procedures/channels for obtaining required services and information.
Request/apply in good time to ensure necessary processing.
Participate in stakeholders’ forum for briefing of activities of the Secretariat in order to provide/get feedback.

SPECIAL NEEDS PROVISION - E-ACCESSIBILITY

This is the USPF's response to the promotion of access for persons living with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the aim of ITU's member states to achieve global inclusive ICT. The Secretariat implements the project through the deployment of assistive technologies to relevant institutions to address the peculiar needs of the target beneficiaries.

Objective

The objective of this project is derived from Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which specifies in its first paragraph: "To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems..."

The Secretariat provides ICT tools and Assistive Technologies (ATs) to persons with impairment such as sight, hearing, speech, mobility /cognition, and other categories of people living with disabilities. As disadvantaged members of society, the project is designed to assist in improving the quality of life of people living with disability by:

Providing support to identified groups in accessing Information and Communication Technologies.
Improving the overall learning experience of persons living with disabilities by equipping educators with the right hardware and software
Providing ICT and assistive solutions to cover as many areas of disabilities as possible, including but not limited to sight, hearing, mobility etc.

Service Model

This is a fully funded project. Through open competitive bidding, companies are selected to deploy the appropriate assistive technologies to the institutions catering for people living with disabilities.

Benefits

Inclusion of people living with disabilities into the knowledge economy
Enables persons with disabilities to live independently
Improved access to information and services
Encouragement of independent and active learning by persons with disabilities Improved capacity of the institutions and teachers

CHARTER REVIEW

As the Secretariat receives feedback and possible consultations with all stakeholders, this Charter will be reviewed from time to time to ensure its continuous relevance and validity.

LIMITATIONS

The Secretariat is poised to work with its stakeholders towards the growth and development of the Nigerian ICT sector however, the following challenges/limitations impede service provision as embedded in the USPF’s SMP goals:

Poor Infrastructural Facilities: Lack of suitable buildings in some selected schools to house equipment and network infrastructures and the non-availability of adequate public infrastructure such as accessible roads in rural areas has been an impediment for successful project delivery over the years.
Non-availability and Inadequate Public Power Supply: Incessant power outages in most locations have exerted pressure on the generator and solar power solutions provided in some sites which has led to the breakdown of the power source and ultimately power cut to the ICT tools. This has led to the facilities in some locations not being optimally utilized.
Security Concerns: Security of lives of personnel of operating companies and network equipment is a concern that hampers the extension of telecommunication and ICT services to some parts of the country. Civil unrest and insurgency in some parts of the country are great hurdles preventing implementers and USP staff from carrying out their activities. This has led to implementation delays and project overrun in those locations. Another major concern is theft and wanton destruction of ICT equipment in some sites leading to total collapse of the project and unusable to beneficiaries.
High cost of Bandwidth: High cost of providing bandwidth for School Knowledge Center (SKC), Tertiary Institution Knowledge Center (TIKC), Community Resource Centres (CRC) and other bandwidth dependent projects of the USPF has contributed to a drastic reduction in sustaining the ICT projects implemented by the Fund.
Right of way, Certificate of Ownership for land: Issues affecting the effective execution of some projects such as Backbone Transmission Infrastructure (BTRAIN), University Inter Campus Connectivity Optic Fiber Cable (UnICC OFC), and Base Transceiver Station (BTS) include: Right of Way, Certificate of Ownership for land acquisition by operators, multiple regulations regarding erection of towers (LGA, State Governments, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency) etc.
Other Challenges: Difficulties experienced by implementers in respect of project completion within the stipulated timeline.