CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1              BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Prior to independence, the provision of telecommunications facilities in this country was restricted mainly to government businesses, for enforcement of law and order and administration of the country together with a few ones of commercial and industrial purposes. The telephone network consisted of about 121 (one hundred and twenty one) telephone exchanges of which 116 (one hundred and sixteen) were magnetic/manual telephone exchange and the remaining 5 (five) were automatic, located at Lagos Island Ikeja Ebute-Matta, Apapa and Port-Harcourt. The total number of telephone lines in 1960 was 18,724 (eighteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty four) with a population of about 45 million in the country representing a telephone density of 0.4 telephone per 1000 population. After independence, the need for telephone facilities was no longer restricted to government functionaries as the development of trade, commerce industries and private enterprises commenced at a fast rate and these required efficient telephone services.

However, the government realizing this, appointed a team of experts from overseas, to carry out along-term telephone study of the country’s future requirement. The report of the experts recommended a fiver year development plan (1963-1968) to provide the following facilities:

(a)                       Building of a new long distance radio route connecting Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Enugu and Port-Harcourt.

(b)                      Provision of large capacity cross bar exchanges at Lagos mainland (7000 lines), Ikeja conduct, 298 concrete conduct or feet cable wire for local subscribers network, exchange buildings with associated air conditioning plants.

(c)                       Construction of radio routes to link 23 urban centres including Ibadan, Kaduna, Sokoto, kano, Jos, Maiduguri, Warri and Calabar.

(d)                      Installation of new telephone exchanges at 5 (five) urban centres and 19 tones together with associated subscriber cable network.

(e)                       Expansion of the existing step by step switching equipment at Ibadan, Shogho, Akure, Illorin, Kaduna, Kano, and Jos by a total of about 8,00 lines.

(f)                       Provision of subscribers’ trunk dialing (S.T.D) at main urban centres.

(g)                      Construction of landline routes from main urban centres to 110 rural locations and replacement of manual exchanges by low capacity automatic exchanges at these locations.

Under this plan, a total number of 100,000 telephones were to be installed besides other improvements listed above. Due to nation’s crisis (1966-1969), the implementation of the programme was largely interrupted and in-fact completely suspended in the Eastern sector of the country. As such 20,000 lines only were added up to 1966. At the end of Nigeria civil war, the status of first years P and T plan (1963-1968) was reviewed and the second National Development plan (1970-1974) was launched in 1970. It was then decided by the government to improve the existing telecommunications facilities by marginal investment in major urban and industrial areas, gradually extend telephone facilities to rural areas where they were non-existent and restore communication system in war affected areas. The second National Development as such consisted of

–          Spillover of projects in the first five years plan.

–          Cable work in areas omitted during planning stages of the first five year plan construction of 73 new automatic exchanges with a capacity of about 72,000 lines.

–          Expansion of cable network associated with new automatic exchanges.

–          Construction of few radios telephone links.

–          Provision of coaxial cable, Lagos, Ibadan, Illorin and Kaduna. Due to financial constraints and other factors, projects under the second National plan were not executed during the plan period and a number of these projects were carried forward for implementation under the third National plan 91975-1980). In 1974, the total number of working subscribers’ lines in the country was approximately 52,000.

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