Telecom Forum Speakers Harp On Accessible Broadband

Speakers at the ongoing
11th Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Forum last Monday in Abuja, stressed the need to make broadband accessible and affordable to all.
Our correspondent reports that the theme of the 11th CTO Forum and 53rd Council Meeting is “‘Innovation Through Broadband”.
The Vice President of Nigeria, Arch. Namadi Sambo at the forum said that it was for the reasons of accessibility and affordability that the Federal Government approved the National Broadband Plan 2013-2018.
Represented by the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, Sambo said that the plan is aimed at realising 80 per cent broadband penetration by 2018.
According to him, with the level of broadband available in the country, millions of people now have access to mobile phones.
He said that the future would be interesting with broadband being available across the countries.
Johnson in her remarks, as Communications Technology Minister, said that though global internet rate had continued to increase, only 40 per cent of the world’s population was already on the internet.
Omobola said that internet penetration was increasing faster among the youth, as they easily adapt to innovations.
She said that the ministry was working at ensuring that Nigerians communicate freely and in an affordable manner.
Dr Eugene Juwah, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that the commission had already identified the bright skyline of broadband. Juwah said that the effect of broadband was noticeable in 11 years of the country’s telecoms revolution.
He said that there had been huge deployments and take up of voice-based services, which had pushed the country’s teledensity above 81 per cent, as at July 2013.
According to him, the CTO forum will enrich the country’s broadband plan and other initiatives that will assist in the speedy implementation of the country’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) programmes and actions.
The Secretary-General of CTO, Prof. Tim Unwin said that there was the need to develop new models that would facilitate access to broadband.
Unwin said that more efforts should be geared toward ensuring that women and children gain access to broadband, since they represent majority of the world’s population.
He said that there should be a multi-stakeholders participation for the deployment of broadband in Nigeria.
The CTO scribe said that the deployment of broadband across the country was not something to be left for the government or private sector alone.
According to him, broadband helps to open many opportunities in life and create better solutions for the economy.
He said that the government and the private sector should collaborate to ensure that the benefits of broadband for all