BREAKING NEWS, Business
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Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission has espoused a new strategic vision hinged on an eight point goals to take the telecommunication industry in Nigeria to greater heights
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Feb 3, 2016 @ 18:55 GMT |
THE Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has come up with a five-year strategic vision for the telecommunications industry. The new vision which covers fiscal years 2015 to 2020 is the roadmap to guide NCC’s operations through the deployment of broadband infrastructure to facilitate rollout of broadband services that will hold out opportunities and higher network quality of service for all Nigerian during the period.
According to Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC, the vision “is to promote innovation, investment, competition and consumer empowerment in and on top of the communication platforms of today and the future – maximising the power of information and communications technology to grow our economy, create jobs and enhance national competitiveness through the deployment of broadband infrastructure to facilitate rollout of broadband services that will hold out opportunities and higher network quality of service for all Nigerians”. Danbatta who anchored the actualisation of the vision on eight goals of the NCC, stated that as an organisation NCC was committed to refocus its energy and resources towards this common good and “we also call upon other stakeholders to join hands with us in this patriotic duty.”
The goals are to facilitate broadband penetration, improve quality of service, optimise usage and benefits of spectrum, promote ICT innovation and investment opportunities, facilitate strategic collaboration and partnership, protect and empower consumers, promote fair competition and inclusive growth and ensure regulatory excellence and operational efficiency.
Danbatta, who listed this goals at the international press conference in Lagos, on Wednesday, January 27, said that to optimise the usage and benefits of spectrum, his leadership would develop and implement flexible, market-oriented spectrum regulation policies that promote highly efficient use of spectrum in ways that stimulate innovation, investment and job creation, and increased consumer benefits. Also, to promote ICT innovation and investment opportunities, NCC plans to facilitate and support the deployment and use of broadband networks as a platform for economic growth, innovation, job creation, and global competitiveness by fostering increased strategic support for technology start-ups and small and medium scale enterprises, SMEs.
In line with the agenda, the NCC in the next five years would foster avenue for synergy with government ministries, department and agencies, MDAs, communities, and relevant local and international non-state actors to advance the use of information communication and technology, ICT, for development (ICT4Dev) by facilitating and supporting the development, adoption and usage of technology innovations for improvement in agriculture, healthcare, education, and security.
It would also strengthen initiatives to educate and inform consumers in their use of communications services, and act swiftly and consistently whenever necessary in the use of enforcement to protect telecom services consumers’ rights and privileges.
NCC will also promote fair competition and inclusive growth by fostering fair competition through regulations that ensure strict compliance to obligations imposed on dominant operators in ways that stimulate the growth and sustainability of smaller players in the mainstream, value added services, and ancillary services sectors of the telecom service provision ecosystem.
Under the guidance of Danbatta, NCC will ensure regulatory excellence and operational efficiency by strengthening regulatory and operational systems and processes in ways that make them more result-oriented by further internalising the NCC’s rules, culture, and values, and integrating technology where necessary to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and stakeholder satisfaction.
He acknowledged the fact that the global and local ICT market is growing exponentially and creating whole brand new and exciting opportunities. “Nigeria’s economy is strengthening, and the world is taking notice. We would like to make these opportunities real for all Nigerians, especially the young people who are already shaping the future through innovation. We believe that Nigeria has the potential to gain a global competitive edge in innovation. What we need is to work together to gain the extra momentum that is necessary and invaluable for the successful realisation of our vision as an industry.”
He assured that the commission will always act responsibly, impartially, transparently, and independently in the discharge of its statutory functions and for the common good of all Nigerians. “These pillars will dictate at all times what we do, and I am sure that they will also serve as fundamental dictating parameters of our core targets of broadband provision and improvement in the quality of service of the networks,” Danbatta said
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