Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, says the telecom industry has witnessed milestones in more ways than one, including the rapid growth in technology, which is redefining service delivery and creating wide and high expectations from all stakeholders.
Professor Danbatta made the revelation at the opening ceremony of a two-day Talk To The Regulator (TTTR) forum in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State.
He said the Commission has equally taken measures to improve regulations to accommodate the rapid and continuous developments.
Some of the interventions and responses by the Commission, he said, include facilitating the rollout of the 5G service provision; introduction of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) license to bridge the gap between unserved and underserved areas.
He also said the Commission is currently reviewing the scope of the structure of its existing licensees to make them more robust and to accommodate some of the identified new industry trends.
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“In line with the Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2020 – 2025), the NCC is providing industry leadership to facilitate the achievement of 90% broadband penetration by year 2025 and will be above 50% at the end of 2023.
“Currently, over 150 million Nigerians have access to the Internet, while over 80 million can access high speed internet”, he revealed.
He said the Talk-To-The-Regulator Forum is a common platform for non-discriminatory innovation on a one-on-one basis, between the licensees and the regulator on several industry issues pertinent to the licensees and of national interest.
Speaking earlier, zonal controller, NCC, Port Harcourt zonal office, Venny Eze, said the two day meeting was intended to provide a veritable platform for interaction between the regulator and the licensees and other stakeholders which would enable the Commission to identify challenges confronting the industry with a view to identify various challenges affecting their operations while making suggestions requiring regulatory interactions within the mandate of the NCC.
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Mohammed Babajika, NCC’s Director of licensing and authorization department, assured that the Commission will take recommendations on board as it has done in the past and will ensure that the ideas gleaned are implemented to impact the industry positively.
In his remark, Mr Adeleke Adewolu, Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, commended the development in the communication sector saying, it has proven to be pivotal to the growth and development of the national economy.
He stated also that the sector has continually ensured that the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government is established on a solid foundation. “It has also proven to be the catalyst for entrenching the activities of both the public and private sector in the digital space, seemingly”, he added.
“A market study has shown that the deployment of 5G technology services will result in $13.2 trillion in global economic value chain. Thus, the Commission has played an effective role in placing the nation at a vantage position in order to reap these benefits”, Mr Adeleke stressed.