DOT-COM Activity: Nigerian Internet Policy (Nigerian Pilot Project-II)
DOT:dot-GOV
Country: Nigeria
Funder(s): USAID/EGAT/IT
Short Description: dot-GOV is working with the Nigerian Communications Commission to ensure that the concerns of women and men working with ISPs are included in the secondary legislation being crafted to enable provision of local telecommunication services.
Phase/Type of Activity: Pilot Status: Completed
Start date: January 01, 2002 End Date: December 31, 2003
Partners:
Person(s) to contact
Full Description: This pilot project to the Media Rights Agenda helped support the Internet Policy advocate as part of the Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI). A lawyer experienced with ICT and Internet stakeholder rights is working in tangent with the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) in providing policy advice to the NCC. The GIPI lawyer helped organize and participate in an IXP workshop which helped address the issues concerning Internet Service Providers in Nigeria. Meetings were also held with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to discuss the findings of the ISM band research, which the Country Advocate undertook on behalf of the Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN); particularly the NCCÂ’s policy statement disallowing the usage of the ISM Frequency Band by ISPs for providing last mile, commercial wireless Internet access to the teeming Nigerian population. The lawyer advocate also advised on the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Information Technology Development Fund (NITDEF) both of which were being established in 2002. The lawyer also helped organize a special workshop for small and medium sized enterprises in conjunction with The West Africa NGO Network and funding from the Lagos Office of the African project Development Fund.
Core funding for the DOT-COM Alliance is provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture & Trade, Office of Infrastructure and Engineering (EGAT/OI&E), Office of Education (EGAT/ED), and Office of Women in Development (EGAT/WID), under the terms of Award numbers: GDG-A-00-01-00009-00, dot-GOV; GDG-A-00-01-00014-00, dot-ORG; GDG-A-00-01-00011-00, dot-EDU.