NCC looks set to roll out telecom infrastructure across Nigeria

The Nigeria Communication Commission says all problems that have acted as an obstacle in the distribution of broadband infrastructure have been solved and the deployment of telecom infrastructure will start soon.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, the executive vice-chairman of the commission, said on Thursday in a video conference meeting themed “Socio-Economic and Political Impact of Covid19 on Telecom and ICT Sector in Nigeria” organized by the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria.

In the meeting, Prof. Umar Danbatta said that some states have agreed to reduce the cost of the right way while President Muhammadu Buhari has promised telecom operators of protecting telecom infrastructure.

He stressed that everything that they need to do to start the infrastructure projects across the zones has been completed, and very soon the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Patami, will give the specific time when these projects will begin.

He also explained that it is important, right from the onset, that the safety of telecom infrastructure is important. With the challenges of the right of way, no significant progress will be made even if they try to deploy additional infrastructure.

He said that based on the Federal Government statement, as well as what they have witnessed some States Governors do by either cling to the harmonized price of the right of way or by leaving It off altogether.

He said that they are showing signs of purpose that finally, Nigeria is ready to deploy infrastructure.

He points out that network congestion experienced by Nigerians during the Covid19 lockdown had uncovered the deficiencies of the existing broadband infrastructure.

The NCC boss applauded the network providers for their resilience even with the challenges they faced.

Danbatta pointed out it was time to solve the monotonies by introducing fibre through infrastructure company that had been given license for the six geopolitical zones in the country.

He said that the network congestion in the telecom sector that we are experiencing have exposed the inefficiency of the infrastructure they have been talking about.