The Executive Vice
Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Gamba Danbatta, has hinted that about 30 million Nigerians now have access to broadband services across the country.
He gave the hint last Tuesday at the current 3rd steering committee meeting of international Telecommunications Union (ITU) Centres of Excellence Africa Network in Abuja.
Danbatta said Nigeria had now crossed the 20 percent broadband penetration and was already on its way to achieving 30 percent penetration in the next two years.
According to him, the achievement would place Nigeria on the same scale with economically advanced countries.
The NCC boss boasted that the nation’s current position in the broad band world may also shoot it out of the prevalent economic situation in the country.
He further stressed that the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a growth enabler was no longer contestable due to its visible changes.
He was also of the opinion that African countries can harness the massive opportunities of the digital era by consciously leaping to developing the requisite knowledge and skills through capacity building.
He further pointed out that ICT was the biggest driver of economic growth of this present century in the world all over.
The communication expert, who charged the players of the industry on service delivery, said they must play according to the rule in order to be at home with the regulatory body.
In his response, the Minister for Communications, Mr Adebayo Shiltu described Nigeria as an investment haven for ICT operations.
Meanwhile, participants at the event have lauded the organisers and pleaded that it should be organised in all the six glo-political zones so as to allow for more beneficiaries.