FG Targets 70% Broadband Penetration In Five Years

The Federal Government yesterday inaugurated a 36-member presidential committee to develop the 2020-2025 national broadband plan.

The members will work to increase the country’s broadband penetration level from 37.8 per cent to 70 % in just five years, the Chairperson of the Committee, Funke Opeke, told journalists in Abuja after the inauguration.

Speaking before he inaugurated the committee, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, said the new broadband plan would go a long way in supporting the digital economy policy and strategy for the Federal Government.

Dr Pantami said: “You cannot develop and promote digital economy without broadband at your disposal or in your country. “We feel it is necessary after getting our national broadband in place we need to immediately see how we can come up with another very important strategic committee to work on our national broadband plan.

“All hands must be joined together to see how we can penetrate under served and unserved areas in the country.”

In his speech, Mr Guy Harrison, a representative of the United Kingdom government, said the broadband plan would provide opportunity for countrywide connectivity and also set a framework for all engagements in public and private sectors. “Broadband networks deliver benefits across the whole of society and play a key role in achieving the suitable development goals and in catalysing’s inclusive growth in Nigeria’’, Harrison said.