The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta said yesterday that the advent of the Covid-19, ICT has become the major backbone for government activities and local businesses.
He said the most important lesson to be learnt from the current pandemic is the need to continue to invest in infrastructure development in critical sectors of the economy, particularly the ICT sector, which has become the bastion of modern economies.
Danbatta who spoke at the 2020 Nigeria Innovation Week with the theme: ‘Innovating in Critical Times” which held virtually, said for innovation to thrive as the anchor for accelerating economic growth post COVID-19, a robust broadband infrastructure upon which ICT innovations will ride, is a necessity and an urgent one at that.
Danbatta who was represented by the director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said the Commission has placed emphasis on broadband to drive innovation, and hopes to take broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025 in line with the new target in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NBBP), 2020-2025.
“Through effective regulatory efforts, the NCC has been able to deepen connectivity in the country. Under my stewardship at the Commission, we realized that infrastructure gaps existed around the country impairing networks performance, and leading to poor quality of service.
“With the steady increase in telecom subscribers, the Commission decided that a robust telecom/ICT infrastructure was needed to meet up with growing demands for improved Quality of Service. It became imperative for us at the Commission to introduce drastic measures at ensuring Nigerians receive value for money.
“We intensified our focus on the established key performance indicators (KPIs) for quality of service by instituting a regime of rigorous and continuous monitoring of the networks to ensure that they operate in tandem with set parameters,” Danbatta said.
Securing Nigeria’s Cyberspace
According to him, the re-direction of human traffic to online portals for major transactions as a result of social distancing also meant that cybercriminals have a larger audience and a much bigger playground to execute their nefarious activities.
“The NCC, CBN, major financial institutions and Security Agencies, we have diligently ensured that Nigeria’s Cyberspace is secured. NCC has been the major linkage in the drive for optimum economic development, as it remains the pioneer for all the major disruptions that would drive the nation’s economic reboot, especially the financial systems riding on electronic innovations.
“These innovations are driven by the availability of a robust communications infrastructure made possible by the Commission’s continuous quest for investment in the sector.
Collaborative partnership between the NCC and the CBN has been very effective, leading to the development of various brands of electronic transaction models, which have totally reformed banking in Nigeria making it possible for instant cash transfers to folks in rural areas cutting out waiting times at banking halls and simplifying online transactions,” he further said.
Broadband Infrastructure Funding
The EVC added that in the long term, NCC’s initiative to license Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to bridge existing gaps will further improve not only broadband penetration but the quality of broadband experience.
“On the InfraCos, the Commission is in the process of finalizing the six Infracos Counterpart Funding Agreement to galvanise the full rollout of broadband infrastructure on an Open Access Model (OAM) aimed at enhancing digital transformation and this will ensure there is Point of Access in each of the 774 local governments in the country.
“The result of this initiative is that apart from meeting and surpassing the 30 percentbroadband penetration in December, 2018, in line with the NBP 2013-2018 target, NCC increased broadband penetration from less than 6 percentin 2015 to 43.30 percent by August 2020.
“This translates to 82, 653,247 broadband subscriptions in the countryas of August, 2020. These measures have been very instrumental to the emergence and survival of SMEs that have had to ride on the backbone of telecoms infrastructure during this pandemic.
The EVC noted that between 2015 and 2020, much has been done to put Nigeria on the global map of nations that are electronically driven while delivering financial intermediation. “Together with our stakeholders from the banking sector, the NCC is actively involved in the application of various electronic portals that continue to drive transactions off banking floor and onto handheld devices or personal computers.
“The NCC, through its interventions, has continued to lift the Nigerian economy and create momentum and hope for financial inclusion based on the seamless implementation of the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan,” further said.
Supporting Fight Against Covid-19
He said the NCC’s Emergency Communication Centers (ECC) have been crucial in the Federal Government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 1,209 COVID-19-related calls made between March and June 2020 from the nineteen (19) ECCs across the country. The establishment of the ECCs by the Commission across the nation was borne out of the need to safeguard all Nigerians irrespective of their geographical locations.
“The Nigerian Government, through the Federal Ministry of Health, has been putting measures in place to ensure the Coronavirus disease is controlled and quickly contained. Nigeria’s multi-sectoral Coronavirus Preparedness Group led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) activated its national Emergency Operations Centre and swiftly swung into action with State governments to contain the spread of the outbreak around the country.
“There are lessons to be learnt from the current pandemic, the most important of which is the need to continue to invest in infrastructure development in critical sectors of the economy, particularly the ICT sector, which has become the bastion of modern economies.
“We hope to reap the rewards of the Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) in the coming years and provide Nigerians the comfort of new innovations and new ways of living. This would imply that broadband penetration would be improved significantly through deliberate facilitation of investment in fibre infrastructure, QoS will be assured, available spectrum would be optimized with full benefits, there would be more investment opportunities in the industry, there will be access to strategic collaboration and partnerships, consumers would be fully protected and empowered, there will be fair competition and inclusive growth.
The socio-economic benefits of the expansion in telecommunications infrastructure embarked upon by the Commission would be of immense benefit to the country, especially with the roll out of the 5G technology which currently is being test run in about forty (40) countries. This will be a significant upgrade for networks and will be the backbone for the future ICT industry post-pandemic recovery.
Nigeria is exploring the potential benefits of deploying 5G technology as well as any health implications and once the coast is clear, a massive campaign will begin to enlighten Nigerians on the immense benefits that will be attained through 5G technology.
