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The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has announced plans to host the maiden edition of Virtual Structured Engagement with Key Stakeholders in the Nigerian Telecom & ICT Sector on the New National Broadband Plan (NBP) 2020- 2025.
The target is to address the ‘how and when’ of achieving 70% broadband penetration by 2025 in Africa’s most populous country over 200 million people within the framework of the NBP. Nigeria remains highly ‘under-infrastructure’ despite being the continent’s largest economy with GDP hovering around USD 448.1 billion as at 2019 and an ambitious national digital economy rollout. It is currently in depression as its economy contracted by 6.1% in Q2 2020.
The virtual meet with the theme: ‘Realizing the new set target of 70% of Broadband Penetration‘ is to hold Thursday, March 25, 2021.
“The buy-in of the various sub-groups under the membership of ATCON would be leveraged upon to ensure and guarantee that the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 is adequately positioned to deliver its ultimate purposes for the generality of Nigerians more quickly and strategically,” said ATCON’s President, Ikechukwu Nnamani and Publicity Secretary, Wole Abu in a joint statement released in Lagos this week.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, is expected to deliver the keynote address on: “Enhancing the contributions of sub-sector in the Nigerian national broadband plans through enabling policies”
EVC/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta; Director-General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Director-General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Aliyu Aziz Abubakar, would share their respective commissions and agency’s perspective via a paper presentation on “Aggregating the potentials of the sub-sector to meet the new broadband set target of 70%”.
“This very important strategic and flagship event would serve as a veritable platform for the key stakeholders in the telecom and ICT sector to brainstorm and proffer solution for the realization of the new set target of 70% of Broadband Penetration more expediently.
“Traditionally, ATCON as an organization usually gives its members the opportunity to review and provide insightful approaches and solutions along with ministry, NCC, NITDA and state governments as to what needs to be done to support various programmes and projects that are earmarked for the successful implementation of the previous National Broadband Plan under past ministers,” added the senior ATCON officials.
According to ATCON objectives of the event include:
- To compliment the various strategic activities already embarked upon by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
- To achieve the set target of Broadband penetration in Nigeria with great speed.
- To leverage on the wide spectrum of ATCON sub-group for effective participation in the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 by giving them the opportunity to access the plan and suggest various ways to speed up the realization of the established target by the government.
- To serve as a veritable platform to galvanize the needed input that reflect the thinkings of the telecom and ICT sector.
- An opportunity to review the relevance of the Nigerian policy environment vis-a-vis the telecom operating environment.
Each sub-sector is seen as an integral part of the entire ecosystem of the Nigerian telecom and ICT sector hence, selected representative of various subgroups would be expected to make a presentation on how the new National Nigeria Broadband Plan 2020-2025 is impacting the subsector and list what can be done to make the plan realizes its set target on or before the stated period.
Some of the sub-sectors/sub-groups that their input would be collated which are germane to the implementation of the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 are Towers/Base Stations Providers, MNOs, Over The Top (OTT) Players, Value Added Services Providers (VAS), Metro-Fibre Operators, Submarine/Undersea Cable Operators, Internet Services Providers (ISP) – Wholesale Segment, Data Centre Operators, Internet Services Providers (ISP) – Retail Segment, Digital Skills/Capacity Building, FINTECH/e-Commerce Operators, Cloud Computing, Manufacturers’ Representative, Satellite Operators, eGovernment Services Providers and Equipment Dealers.
“We are confident that this special engagement would enable us to carry out the industry mapping with respect to the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025,” said Nnamani and Abu in the statement.
