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The Nigerian Communications Commission is to collaborate with the ministry of federal capital territory to promote broadband penetration in Abuja
THE NIGERIAN Communications Commission, NCC, is to partner with the ministry of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to ensure broadband penetration in Abuja. The commission is driven by the need that developments in capital cities, or territories, are used as index of the level of development of the entire nation.
Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, who stated this when paid a courtesy visit to Mohammed Musa Bello, minister of FCT, on Thursday, August 24, added that telecommunications and ICTs have contributed their fair share to the development of the nation.
He said the contributions of telecommunications to business, governance, security, commerce, and social relationship in Nigeria have become very significant.
According to him, the numbers of mobile and fixed line subscribers have averaged 150 million within the first six months of this year from January to June 2017. He said access to the internet stands at 92 million as at June 2017, while ICT contributions to GDP is close to 10 percent as at the same month.
“Telecommunications has attracted more than US$68 billion in private sector investment since 2001. Telecommunications is very vital in the administration of most major cities of the world.
“For the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, which is the seat of the Nigerian government, housing the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, including most agencies of government, the role of telecommunication is very crucial in many respects. Telecommunications play a very vital role in the provision of adequate security surveillance and helping security agencies to keep the city free of crime. Telecommunications assist in the resolution of crimes and apprehension of criminals.
“Telecommunications is vital to the wellbeing of the residents of the city. Telecommunications is the basic foundation for e-governance, e-commerce, e-health, e-education, and all the ‘E’s. Telecommunications play vital role in the mobilisation of the citizens for development. In many respects, telecommunications is a catalyst for development and administration.”
According to Danbatta, with the advent of broadband, the telecommunications landscape has changed dramatically and Nigeria is striving to keep pace. He said the ITU has credited our strides with 21 percent penetration of broadband.
“This is a major outcome of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s multipronged approach to leverage the inherent potentials of broadband technology, which is the future of ICT. This is why we have consciously highlighted the “facilitation of broadband penetration” as the flagship of our 8-Points Agenda to guide our strategic focus for five years.
“Our strategy in this direction is to facilitate and support availability of broadband services by promoting deployment of universally available, fast and reliable network infrastructure that will stimulate seamless broadband penetration to drive technology innovations and overall productivity of the economy. It is interesting to note that FCT belongs to the first set of two zones, (North Central and Lagos,) where the Commission has issued fibre infraco licenses to enable broadband deployments in all parts of the federation using the Open Access Model.
“A new phenomenon that will be of interest to your administration is the concept of smart cities. The Commission is part of ongoing discussions about how to implement smart cities. Urban planners, city administrators, policy makers, ICT experts, ICT vendors are looking at how better connectivity, better security, cyber security, predictive intelligence, better environment and control, including transportation infrastructure, could be integrated to provide smart solutions for the city residents. However, such cities can only exist where there are robust telecommunications and ICT infrastructure,” he said.
“It is in such cities that the futuristic Internet of Things, IOT, will become a reality. It is our desire, that our FCT, will in no distant future, belong to a class of such smart cities,” he added.
– Aug 24, 2017 @ 14:21 GMT
Tags: FCT Federal Capital Territory NCC Nigerian Communications Commission Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta telecommunications US$68 billion
