The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has restated its commitment to ensuring that Nigerian residents, no matter how remotely located, have access to affordable telecommunications services.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who gave this assurance when the Champion Newspapers unveiled its heroes of 2022 at its annual awards in Lagos, explained that ensuring that all Nigerians and other residents in the country have access to telecom services remained one of the mandates of the Commission.
Danbatta, who was awarded the paper’s Most Outstanding Regulator of the Year 2022, pointed out that globally today, to deny anybody modern communications tools which make life easy could be termed a crime.
He assured: “We will ensure that all parts of Nigeria has access to communications services.”
The telecom sector regulator further restated the commission’s commitment to the realization of this year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) agenda as it related to deepening telecom interconnectivity drive nationwide.
Danbatta said: “We identify with the agenda of the World telecommunication and Information Society Day in order to ensure that no part of this country is left without communication services.”
On the criteria that won the EVC the award among other selected nominees, the Champion newspapers’ management clarified: “Danbatta has successfully spearheaded the attainment and surpassing of Nigeria’s national broadband target in 2018 and he is currently among those leading the charge for the realisation of the new national broadband target of 70 percent by 2025, after the country achieved and surpassed its earlier national target of 30 percent penetration in 2018.
“As of October 2022, broadband penetration has finally reached 48.49 percent, indicating 93 million broadband connections, up from five percent in 2015.
“Through effective regulatory regime and various cutting-edge initiatives, Danbatta has strengthened the role of telecommunications sector as a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Products, GDP growth, and boosted telecoms investment inflows from $36 billion to over $70 billion since 2015, among others.
“Among several concrete achievements, Danbatta, in 2021 ensured the successful auction and assignment of three frequency lots in the 3.5Ghz spectrum brand for the deployment of the fifth generation, 5G networks in Nigeria towards harnessing the potential benefits of emerging technologies for the advancement of the socioeconomic development of Nigeria”, it added.
