How FG Increased 4G Coverage from 23% to 77.52% – Pantami
By Abbas Badamasi,
TECHDIGEST – Minister of Communications and Digital economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has recounted the successes of President Muhammadu Buhari-led government in solid infrastructure, especially broadband penetration whose 4G coverage increased from 23% to 77.52%, within three years.
“When I assumed office on the 21st of August 2019, the official broadband penetration figures stood at 33.72%, representing close to 13 million new broadband users,” Pantami said.
He disclosed this at the #Digital Nigeria Conference 2022 event in Abuja, where he said that the Solid Infrastructure Pillar addresses the need to provide broadband access and data centres required to enable citizens to access the digital solutions that characterise the digital economy.
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According to Pantami, there were 13,823 4G base stations in the country and we now have 36,751, representing a 165.86% increase.
“Additionally, the cost of data has crashed from N1,200 per GB to about N350, making it easier for Nigerians to connect to the Internet.
“A Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020- 2025) was developed to accelerate the growth of broadband connectivity across the country. The Plan was unveiled and launched by Mr President on the 19th of March, 2020.
“The Plan is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria of a minimum 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90% of the population by 2025, at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data (2% of median income or 1% of minimum wage),” he said.
