FG To Expend N65bn On Broadband Infrastructure
The Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami meets NCC, telcos on telecom infrastructure, others A total of N65bn will be spent as counterpart fund for the laying of 127,000km of fibre optic across the country in the next four years, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta who disclosed this when he paid a working visit to the Galaxy Backbone Data Centre in Abuja yesterday however said counterpart fund was subject to approval by the government.
Prof Danbatta said the only way Nigeria could make broadband ubiquitous is to lay 127,000km of fibre optic cable throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Communications Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on Monday discussed some critical industry issues with the Nigerian Communications (NCC) and all the major telecom companies in the country.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta led a delegation of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to the minister to discuss the problem of denial or exorbitant cost of Right of Way (RoW) by state governments, vandalism of telecoms infrastructure, poor or lack of access to public electricity to run telecoms operations, multiple taxations and regulations, the need for Executive Order to protect telecoms infrastructure, and the need for a national digital policy.
The visit which was the first industry stakeholders meeting with the minister also discussed how the federal government could achieve its target of laying 127,000 kilometers of fibre across the country in the next four years. Tabling the sectoral challenges before the Minister, ALTON President, Gbenga Adebayo, listed and extensively discussed a number of issues confronting the operators.
These include the problem of denial or exorbitant cost of Right of Way (RoW) by state governments, vandalism of telecoms infrastructure, poor or lack of access to public electricity to run telecoms operations, multiple taxations and regulations, the need for Executive Order to protect telecoms infrastructure, and the need for a national digital policy. Adebayo earnestly solicited the Minister’s interventions requesting him to use his good office to address the issues in view of the significance of telecoms as a central and pivotal infrastructure shaping the economy.
Adebayo, who submitted a document detailing issues requiring immediate attention specially acknowledged the exceptional leadership of Prof. Danbatta as the EVC of NCC, stressing that the current upbeat status of the industry is largely traceable to the good regulatory regime instituted by the leadership of the Commission.
