*Nigeria seek more capital to meet 2018 broadband access target
IT NEWS NIGERIA:
Executive Vice Chairman(EVC) of Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has revealed that telecoms investment in Africa’s largets economy has hit $70 billion but the country seeks more capital to meet Boradband access target next year.
Speaking today at ITU Telecom World 2017 in Busan, South Korea, Danbatta said “16 years since the Digital Mobile Licences were issued, investment in the sector has hit about $70 billion from a mere $50 million in 2001,” adding, most of these investments are Foreign Direct Investments.
According to him, although, the country has made very modest progress in the sector, we still need to deepen investments to make broadband pervasive in the country.
“We are at 21 percent now and our target is to hit 30 percent by 2018, consistent with the National Broadband Plan. We are already in the era of Internet of Things (IoTs) where every sector of our economy will depend on telecoms infrastructure to maximally operate.”
The EVC also added that all sectors of every national economy have become dependent on the telecommunications sector and failure on the sector would have far reaching negative ramifications to other sectors hence the need to build capacity in the sector.
speaking further, he said NCC’s engagement with the global community at ITU event will include creating awareness of the investment opportunities in Africa’s biggest Telecom market, as well as guarantee of adequate Returns on Investments.
to this end, he said ” we are here to tell the ICT community that Nigeria with a population of about 170 million is a preferred investment destination in Africa. With over 150 million active subscribers, in the voice segment, over 102 percent teledensity and a little over 92 million internet connections, Nigeria is indeed a place to invest.”
“The ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for sustainable development recently said Nigeria now has about 21% broadband penetration and conscious of the reality that broadband fuels faster data transmission speed and capacity, our focus now is on how we can attract the right investments to grow this critical area of the sector through broadband coverage expansion.”
