stupor and moral disarray. In addition to the old battle against imperialism, for equitable terms of
trade and equal freedom of action in the international arena - which is by no means over - we are today engaged in an equally vital battle for the minds of our people in the realm of knowledge,morals and technology. This cannot be ignored, if we are to justify our existence and claim to
equality with the rest of the world.15. Development Communication Planning
15.1 Introduction
In development communication, planning is a deliberate, systematic and continuous effect to organise human activity for the efficient use of communication resources and for the realisation of
communication policies, in the context of a particular country's development goals, means and priorities and subject to its prevailing forms of social, economic and political organisation.
Development communication planning, therefore, must take into account the development
environment and goals of the country in which the planning takes place. In addition, the country's political ideology, social issues, communication facilities and systems, as well as available resources must all be properly studied before planning the communication strategy that would suit the
environment.
Unfortunately, communication is usually brought into the planning of development programmes only as an after-thought. Emphasis in most developing countries is always on publicity, for the authorities in such countries there is no difference between information (provision of facts and figures) and communication (exchange of ideas). No serious thought is usually given to the importance of communication - mass, interpersonal, traditional and folk - in development. Provisions are usually made for publicising development plans and objectives, but very little is done for feedback and for discussions. Hence a common complaint of communication researchers and practitioners is that communication policies and plans are too often in the hands of those who do not know enough about communication to set up or contribute to the communication systems that best serve the development needs of their countries.
In development communication planning, therefore, communication should not be seen only as a tool, a supporting mechanism or an independent variable in development. It should be viewed as an integral part of development plans, one of whose major objectives is to create communication systems or modes that would provide opportunity for people to have access to means of
communication, and to make use of these means in improving the quality of their lives. Therefore, in seeking solutions to the problems of communication in development, it is imperative to first look at the larger development process, and then at the role or roles of communication within the larger system.
A general objective of any serious organisation would be to effectively and efficiently provide service to its customers as and when required;and simultaneously run a viable and profitable business to the satisfaction of both management and staff.
The present developmental status of Telecommunications (a public utility service) cannot be assessed
in isolation of the general economic trends of the country. Setting realistic objectives depend on
many factors including the Nigerian Internal and External policies, Existing infrastructure for Telecommunication services (Internal and External), Government Telecommunications Policy, manpower development, Industrialisation programme and Fiscal policies.The following points are pertinent to the Nigerian situation as of now:
• Planning and Implementation of Telecommunications projects is promised on the Importation of manufactured Telecomms equipment from industrialised countries.
• While Tenders are to standard specifications, Nigeria now purchases equipment from the global
market unlike the pre 1960 period when supplies were mainly from the UK.• Replacement of equipment is partially influenced by lack of spares to maintain existing ones since
relevant manufacturing is not done in the country.• External Plants Construction is generally super-imposed on already developed towns/cities
instead of being provided for earlier as a firm infrastructure at the preliminary stages of Civil
Works development. This leads to inadequate space provisioning and hence high susceptibility to physical interference and sometimes frequent damage.
• Inadequate supply of the public utility services that support Telecommunications, e.g. water, electricity and Gas.
• The inability of the public security agencies to extend services to remotely located plants sites.
• Inadequate facilities to guarantee continuous equipment training and retraining for in-serving officers locally.
• Problems associated with introduction of new technology in the network.
• The need to guarantee the main frame work of the organisational structure and policy continuity once adopted by government.
• Natural climatic condition (temperature, humidity, etc.) unsuitable for modern electronic Telecommunications equipment. Air conditioning of equipment environment is necessary to obtain the ambient operating condition desired or specified.
15.2 Service Objectives
The main service objective of NITEL is to ensure that Telecommunications facilities are accessible to the generality of the Nigerian public (privately/public) at a cost considered reasonable, and are efficiently operated and maintained at the lowest practical cost to provide satisfactory and uninterrupted service as and when required.
This service objective is further addressed under the four main sections of the Telecommunication chain.
153 Tariffs
The essence of encouraging liberalisation, competition, deregulation and ultimate privatization is the envisaged end result of continuously improving efficiency and quality of service to be enjoyed by customers for lower prices. Telecommunication is known to be capital intensive. It is also an
accepted normal business practice that some level of profitability must be achieved else, the business would collapse. However, in a competitive environment, market forces naturally dictate that prices charged must be near cost of provision for survival and sustenance. The issue of tariffs get more and more difficult by the day because the old traditions are changing, giving way to new ones. The I.T.U. approved agreements between administrations (nations) on International traffic settlements, which was aimed at encouraging expansion of networks in developing nations, may no longer apply with the upsurge in International service providers who are not committed to the traditional
monopolistic arrangement. Tariffs for all kinds of services with the associated billing administration are key issues for management in a deregulated Telecom environment.
15.4 Spectrum management
The radio frequency spectrum like the Geostationary Satellite orbit is vital and limited national resources in the world of telecommunications. Despite this, their accessibility is not restricted by geographical or political frontiers neither is it depleted by use. There is therefore need for some measure of control to avoid harmful interference to users and ensure equitable access. Some 130 years ago in 1865 to be precise, the International Telegraph Union was formed in Paris to address issues of Regulations in the field of Telecommunications which was then predominantly Telegraphy as the name implied. In later years after the discovery of Radio, the issues became more complex and therefore required a more orderly and articulate approval at the World Administrative Radio
Conferences organised by the Radio communication sector of the re-christened and re-structured International Telecommunication Union which, after the second world War, became an agency of the United Nations Organisation. The Radio regulations contain entries of allocation of giving frequency bands for the three I.T.U. classified Regions of the world of which Africa belongs to Region 1.
Assignment of frequencies is made through the licensing process in each administration (nation). The
wide use of frequency for broadcasting, terrestrial point to point, point to multipoint, Line of Sight Long Distance Radio Networks, VSATs and other satellite-based systems,such as Remote Control, Search and Rescue, Paging, Cellular as well as other Mobile Communications in General, amongst other numerous functions, make this an essential Regulatory issue in a deregulated telecommunication environment. More entrants into the communications field today are taking advantage of Radio Based Systems because of the relative ease of installation and redeployment where/when necessary and also for cost effectiveness.
16. Awareness of the Populace on the Applications of Information Technology to Development
It was here in the continent of Africa (Nairobi-Kenya to be precise) in 1982, that the International Telecommunication Union decided to set up an Independent Commission for World Wide
Telecommunication Development. The seventeen member commission carried out its assignment under the chairmanship of Sir Donald Maitland of the United Kingdom and submitted a report titled
"THE MISSING LINK" by December 1984. In the published report of January 1985, the following observations and recommendations were made amongst several others:
• that the gross and growing imbalance in the distribution of telecommunications throughout the world was not tolerable.
• that there were some 600 million telephones in the world then, of which three quarters were
concentrated in the nine advanced industrialised countries with the remainder, distributed
unevenly throughout the rest of the world.• that the pace of technological innovation was such that inhabitants of the industrialised world
looked forward to enjoying the full benefit of the so called "information society" by the end of
the century.• that in the majority of developing countries the telecommunication system was inadequate to sustain essential services. In large tracts of territory there was no system at all. Neither in the name of common humanity nor on ground of common interest was such a disparity acceptable.
• that in pursuance of the recommendations, the overriding objectives should be to bring all mankind within easy reach of a telephone in the early part of the next century.
• that achieving this objective will require a range of actions by both the industrialised and developing countries.