NCC Assures Nigerians of Improved Broadband Penetration
In line with the National Broadband Plan, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians access to pervasive broadband through an Open Access Model.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made the disclosure at the 10th edition of the eWorld Forum in Lagos, themed: “Roadmap to Broadband Everywhere.”
In his keynote address at the forum, he explained that the initiative was one of the initial strategic actions of the federal government, through the commission, in Nigeria’s journey towards facilitating the availability, affordability and accessibility to Broadband infrastructure and services.
According to him, “The deployment of Optic Fibre transmission network has been adopted in the “Open Access Model” to bridge the current digital gap and deliver fast and reliable broadband services to households and businesses and the success of this model is evident in the tremendous growth witnessed in the provision of broadband services by all major players in the industry through one technology or the other.
“As at first quarter of this year, Nigeria achieved 33.08 per cent Broadband penetration, thus 63 million Nigerians are presently connected to broadband internet services. This is an encouraging leap from the 8.5 per cent penetration in 2015.”
Danbatta, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Spectrum Administration at the NCC, Mr. Oluwatoyin Asaju, further stated that: “The commission has also continued to make available wireless spectrum resources to the operators, as well as creating enabling environment and level playing field through various regulatory instruments, for the growth and development of the industry, and the overall impact on the socio-economic well-being of our nation.
The President, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operations of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, urged the NCC to look into the state of health of InfraCo licence holders, explaining that there are a lot of registered licensees that exits out there but don’t have the physical infrastructure
“When we bring in the infracos, you can’t expect them to deliver certain results if you don’t remove the obstacles they are confronted with; right of way, access to infrastructure among others, have been huge challenge to operators and if they are not eliminated, we are not going to make progress,” Adebayo said.
Organisers of the eWorld Forum, used the occasion to reward six private companies and two government agencies that have contributed to the development of broadband and digital connectivity in the country.
The two government agencies, which have stood out in the management of Nigerian public entities, the NCC and the Galaxy Backbone were among the few that received the eWorld plaudit.