Google’s investment will help NCC’s broadband penetration drive- Danbatta

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has expressed the optimism that Google’s investment in the subsea cable, Equiano, will be significant in driving NCC’s ongoing implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, which aims at increasing broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025.

Danbatta expressed this optimism on the sidelines of the reception marking the landing of the Equiano undersea Cable System in Nigeria at the Open Access Data Centre at Lekki in Lagos.

Danbatta who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services at NCC, Ubale Maska, said the Commission’s expectations, initiatives, and vision towards increasing broadband penetration, quality of service, advancement of a digital economy and commitment to improve national security through technological advancement are on the priority list of its regulatory interventions.

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Danbatta commended Google LLC, the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), and other investors for bringing additional bandwidth capacity into the country to drive connectivity and growth.

“We are hopeful that Equiano, together with earlier undersea cables in the country, will have additional landing points in the hinterlands through collaborative efforts with NCC-licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos).

“This will help to reduce retail data prices significantly and thereby complement the Commission’s efforts at ensuring that affordable Internet services are available to boost the Commission’s ongoing broadband policy initiatives”.

Danbatta expressed delight that Equiano has joined the list of other submarine cables at the shores of Nigeria, including SAT3 cable, Main-One cable, Glo1 cable, ACE cable WACS cable, Dolphin by Natcom, and MTN respectively.

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The EVC assured stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment towards ensuring that the huge bandwidth capacity from these cables at shore in Lagos would be transmitted to different parts of the country to drive robust and ubiquitous infrastructure.

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The new cable system is named after a Nigerian hero, Olaudah Equiano, who survived enslavement in the 18th century and went on to become a famous writer and anti-slavery activist.

Besides the triumph over challenges, which Equiano’s life symbolised, the landing of the cable in Nigeria is expected to underscore Nigeria’s leadership as a regional hub for connectivity, and thus, set to attract cloud operators, content providers, content distribution networks and their associated ecosystems.