Chinenye Anuforo
Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday disclosed that all is now set for internet broadband infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to roll out services across the country.
Its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Professor Umar Danbatta, disclosed this while speaking at a virtual conversation on the socio-conomic and political impact of COVID-19 on telecom and ICT sector in Nigeria, organized by the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
The EVC stated that the Commission would not rest on its oars until affordable and accessible broadband is available across the country.
“Everything that is needed to be done to kick-start the infrastructure projects in the various zones has been done. And very soon, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, will provide the exact time that these projects will kick-off,” Danbatta said.
He added: “It is more important, right from the beginning, that the protection of telecom infrastructure is critical. With the challenges of RoW , no meaningful progress will be made even if we attempt to deploy more infrastructure.
“By the Federal Government’s statement as well as what we have seen some state governments do by either sticking to the harmonised price of right of way or by waiving it all together, I think we are making a statement that finally, this country is ready to deploy infrastructure.”
He noted that network congestion experienced by Nigerians during the lockdown has exposed the inadequacy for the existing broadband infrastructure.
The EVC commended the network providers for their resilience despite the challenges they faced.
Danbatta said it was time to address the redundancies by rolling out fibre through the infrastructure companies that had already been licensed for the six geopolitical zones of the country.