Broad band penetration to hit 90% by year, 2025 – Danbatta

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said, the broad band Penetration will hit 90%, even as the Commission was workinghas working in line with the Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2020 – 2025) to provide industry leadership and facilitate the achievement.

He stated this at a 2-day Talk-To-The-Regulator Forum for year 2023, which started o Thursday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

He said, at present, over I50 million Nigerians have access to internet, while over 80 million can access high speed internet.

According to Prof. Danbatta, “The Nigeria Communications Commission, in keeping with its mandate, creates opportunities to interact with its licensees on industry issues and new trends via stakeholder fora, with a view to gathering relevant information that would further advance the development of the industry, while improving regulations and service delivery to telecom consumers”.

He said the TTTR Forum in Yenagoa was originally scheduled to hold in 2022 but was postponed due to the dreadful flood disaster that hit Bayelsa and some other states in the year.

He seized the opportunity to commiserate with the people of Bayelsa State and the entire nation on the worst flood disaster recorded in the history of the nation.

“We pray that such natural disaster shall not plaque our dear nation again, and equally believe that the state has made adequate preparations for any future occurrences”, Danbatta stated.

Further, he said, “You will agree with me that the telecom industry has witnessed milestones in more ways than one, including the rapid growth in technology, which is redefining service delivery, and creating wide and high expectations from all stakeholders.

“To keep up to date with developments in the industry, the Commission has equally taken measures to improve regulations to accommodate the rapid and continuous development.

He revealed some of the interventions and responses of the Commission to include but not limited to: facilitating the Roll-Out of 5G Service provision; introduction of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licence to bridge the gap between unserved and underserved areas.

Danbatta said the Commission is currently reviewing the scope and structure of its existing licenses to make them more robust and to accommodate some of the identified new industry trends.

The ‘Talk-To-The Regulator` Forum is a common platform for non-discriminatory interaction on a one-on-one basis, between the Licensees and the Regulator on several industry issues, pertinent to the Licensees and of national interest.