Danbatta in Yenagoa expresses NCC’s commitment to engage stakeholders for sector’s continuous growth

The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has expressed the commission’s commitment to seeking stakeholders’ support for the continuous wellbeing of the sector.

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Danbatta, who was delivering the keynote speech at the recent ‘Talk To The Regulator’ forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, stated that the NCC “creates opportunities to interact with its licensees on industry issues and new trends via stakeholder fora.”

According to Danbatta, the interactions are intended to allow the NCC feel the pulse of all stakeholders on issues and gather critical information as may be relevant to improving the health of the telecoms industry.

His words: the “stakeholder fora [are with] a view to gathering relevant information that would further advance the development of the industry, while improving regulations and service delivery to telecom consumers.

“You will agree with me that 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.

“To keep up to date with developments in the industry, the commission has equally taken measures to improve regulations to accommodate the rapid and continuous development. Some of the interventions and responses of the commission includes but are not limited to:

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• Facilitating the Roll-Out of 5G Service provision.
• Introduction of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licence to bridge the gap between unserved and underserved areas.
• The Commission is currently reviewing the scope and structure of its existing licenses to make them more robust and to accommodate some of the identified new industry trends.
• 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 well above 50% at the end of 2023. Currently, over a One Hundred and Fifty (I50) million Nigerians have access to internet, while over eighty (80) million can access high speed internet.”

The telecoms regulator described the “two-day ‘Talk-To-The Regulator` forum is a common platform for non-discriminatory interaction on a one-on-one basis, between the licensees and the regulator on several industry issues, pertinent to the licensees and of national interest.”

Some speakers at the forum were the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, Adeleke Adewolu Esq; Director, Licensing and Authorization, NCC, Mr Mohammed Babajika, who made an opening remarks; Zonal Controller, NCC, Port Harcourt Zonal Office, Venny Eze who made the welcome address; and Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan of the Public Affairs department, NCC.