The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that national roaming and active infrastructure sharing has the potential of ending rural-urban digital divide in the country.
The NCC Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated this at a stakeholders’ forum on “Development of Framework for National Roaming and Active Infrastructure Sharing in Nigeria’’ held in Lagos.
Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the Director, Spectrum Administration, Engr. Austin Nwaulunne, pointed out that national roaming had the potential of promoting seamless communication of subscribers with the attendant positive implications for the nation’s socio-economic growth.
The industry regulator said that the full development of the framework would enable subscribers to roam on the network of other service providers where their own service provider is unavailable or has limited network coverage.
Danbatta said: “The benefits of encouraging active infrastructure sharing can also not be overemphasized. Not only will there be noticeable reduction in network deployment costs, the industry will also witness acceleration in the take-up of broadband services and gradual elimination of the rural-urban digital divide.’’
He also restated the commission’s commitment toward ensuring the continued development of the telecoms industry.
