President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission to ensure that all nooks and crannies of the country are fully covered in the broadband deployment programme.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Dambatta, confirmed this in Kano, stressing that the action was geared towards the enhancement of socio-economic development through telecommunication technology.
Dambatta, who spoke during the first-leg of Broadband Engagement Forum for stakeholders in the North, said already, the country had been divided into seven zones, namely: North-West, North-East, North-Central, South-South, South-East, South-West and Lagos zones, so as to ensure effective and equitable broadband service deployment.
According to him, the tremendous capacity of broadband services at the Lagos landing points is not being felt in the hinterlands, pointing out that there is an urgent need to cover areas where the broadband services have not reached for the benefit of people who are resident outside major cities.
He explained that already, the NCC had constituted an implementation monitoring committee, not only to monitor the establishment of the broadband infrastructure project, but to also ensure adequate sensitisation of all stakeholders, as well as proffer solutions to challenges of broadband deployment, such as payment of taxes and right-of-way. Read more