National President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani has said that the development of a solid digital economy rests on the foundation of well-distributed broadband infrastructure and involves the convergence of all technology types and classes of service.
The ATCON President spoke at a Virtual Structured Engagement with Key Stakeholders in the Nigerian Telecom & ICT Sector on the New National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025 held on Thursday.
Nnamani said the high-powered virtual event was put together to have a conversation around the New National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 with a view to ascertaining the status of the implementation, identifying any bottlenecks to successful implementation that may still exist, and proffering lasting solutions to issues that are likely to constitute an obstacle to the eventual realization of the 70% Broadband penetration target.
“To this end, we have brought together key industry leaders cutting across the nine sub-group of ATCON’s membership to discuss and strategize with the leadership of the public sector on the best ways to achieve an accelerated implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan,” Nnamani said.
The ATCON President listed the objectives of the virtual meeting to include ascertaining the status of the implementation of the NNBP 2020-2025; and identify any potential bottlenecks that may negatively impact the smooth implementation of the plan and proffer necessary solutions to mitigate against them.
The objectives, according to Nnamani also include leveraging on the wide spectrum of ATCON sub-groups for effective participation in the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 by giving them the opportunity to access the plan and suggest various ways to speed up the realization of the established target by the government; as well as serve as a veritable platform to align the objectives and expectations of the private and public sectors.
He recalled that in the year 2020, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy announced that Nigeria’s broadband penetration increased by 10% over the previous year, from 33.3% to 43.3%.
“With this positive development, we are hopeful that this year’s penetration rate would surpass that of 2020 as this event plans to encourage every segment of the sector to double their efforts in terms of encouraging further penetration.
“I commend the tireless efforts of Dr. Pantami towards resolving key challenges facing the industry and also advocating for the speedy implementation of the national broadband plan. The fruits of his efforts can be seen in terms of broadband penetration and various policies that have been initiated, ratified, and issued to further encourage the growth of the industry,” Nnamani said.
The ATCON President also commended Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the work he has done over the years in promoting broadband penetration in the country especially with the facilitation of the smooth operation of the Infraco class of license with the core objective of ensuring broadband infrastructure gets to every major city within the country.
He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Engr. Aliyu Aziz Abubakar, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for their efforts in promoting the digital economy in Nigeria and their constant support for the telecom and ICT sector of the economy through a partnership with ATCON.
“To our member company CEOs who have been making right decisions to put the industry on a continuous growth trajectory and who helped get Nigeria out of the recent economic recession, your efforts is well noted and commended. I like to use this opportunity to appeal that you don’t rest on your oars because the realization of 70% broadband penetration target depends considerably on you in the coming years,” Nnamani said.
He hoped that the report that will come out after the deliberations would contribute positively towards achieving the set targets of the NNBP 2020-2025.
The virtual meeting was attended by ATCON members drawn from Telephone Operators (PNL/Fixed Line Operators, MNOs/IDAs Operators), Infrastructure Providers (Interconnect, Data Centre Operators, Towers/Base Stations Providers); Internet Services Providers (ISP) (Wholesale Segment, Retail Segment), Value Added Services Providers (VAS), Over The Top (OTT) Players, FINTECH/e-Commerce Operators, Telecom/ICT Equipment Manufacturers, Telecom/ICT Consulting firms, and Telecom/ICT Equipment Dealers.
The programme was sponsored by the NCC, NITDA, Huawei, Liquid Telecom, MainOne, Airtel Networks, Medallion Communications, NIGCOMSAT, PPC, ATC, VDT Communications, Rack Center and IpNX.