TECHDIGEST – Professor Umar Danbatta, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), highlighted significant strides in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector following the inaugural Nigerian Telecommunication Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE).

At the ongoing NTICE 2023 event, Engineer Ubale Maska, Executive Commissioner of Technical Services at NCC, conveyed Danbatta’s message. Danbatta noted that the policy implemented after the first NTICE event, which banned the import of whole-body SIM cards, has yielded substantial economic benefits.This ban not only alleviated pressure on foreign exchange demand but also resulted in local SIM card manufacturers generating more than N55 billion in revenue.

Furthermore, the ban sparked direct and indirect job creation, amplifying the positive impact on the economy.

Danbatta emphasized that Nigeria’s telecom sector plays a pivotal role in the country’s socio-economic growth, as exemplified by its remarkable achievements.

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The sector’s contribution to GDP rose from 12.45% in Q4 2020 to 14.13% in Q1 2023, aiding Nigeria’s recovery from recession.

Highlighting its global standing, Danbatta noted that Nigeria leaped ahead in the 5G race, with revenues exceeding USD $820 million from 3.5GHz Spectrum band licenses granted to operators in 2021 and 2022.

This achievement positioned Nigeria as a 5G pioneer among European, African, and Middle Eastern nations.The telecom sector’s commitment to improved Quality of Service and Experience has been unwavering, maintaining stable tariffs despite escalating service provision costs.

To sustain this progress, embracing indigenous content and value creation within the telecom value chain is crucial.The Nigeria Office for Development of Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS), established in 2021, has made strides in manufacturing, human capacity development, research, and software and services creation.

The NTICE event has become a flagship platform for promoting indigenous content, aligned with the NCC’s strategic goals.Moreover, efforts to shield fiber infrastructure from damages led to the incentivization of Corrugated Optical Duct (COD) manufacturing.

The Commission remains dedicated to supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and innovators, offering angel investments, research and development support, investor exposure, and sponsorship for tech events.

In conclusion, Danbatta highlighted that NTICE 2023 symbolizes the celebration of these accomplishments, epitomizing Nigeria’s spirit of innovation and ingenuity.

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TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Google Global Services Nigeria have agreed to work together in order to achieve the national target for Nigeria’s broadband access as part of the country’s digital transformation policy.

The agreement aligns to NCC’s strategic vision plan on strategic partnership with stakeholders to achieve its regulatory objectives, said the commission in an official statement signed by Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.
The two organisations made the commitment when a delegation from Google paid a courtesy visit to the NCC in Abuja recently to explore collaborations for digital transformation across the country.

Receiving the Google delegation, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the commission’s expectations, initiatives, and vision towards increasing broadband penetration, quality of service, advancement of a digital economy and commitment to improving national security through technological advancement are at the front burner of its regulatory interventions.

Underscoring the importance of such synergy between the commission and Google, Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services (ECTS), NCC, Engr. Ubale Maska, said the NCC looked forward to making the initiatives impactful for all parties.
Danbatta expressed optimism that Google’s investment in the subsea cable, Equiano, which is expected to land in Nigeria by end of April 2022, will be more impactful in driving NCC’s ongoing implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025, aimed at increasing broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025.

“I am hopeful that Equiano will have additional landing points in the hinterlands through collaborative efforts with the licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to reduce retail data prices significantly and thereby complementing the Commission’s efforts at ensuring affordable Internet services are available to boost the Commission’s ongoing broadband policy drive,” he said.

Earlier in her remarks, the Director, Google West Africa, Juliet Ehimuan, who led the delegation to NCC, commended the NCC for its consultative approach in formulating regulatory policies, as engine room for optimal delivery of telecommunications services that will in turn impact the digital economy drive of the government.
She particularly applauded the commission for its seamless, fair, credible, impartial and successful auction of the 3.5 Gigahertz spectrum for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) in Nigeria, stating that it is evident that both the NCC and Google share a common goal.

According to Ehimuan, demands for internet services have increased the need for more capacity, and sustainable collaborations with all relevant stakeholders within the public and private sectors. She asserted that Google’s commitment of $1billion across five years in various interventions will support digital transformation in Nigeria and across Africa.

Ehimuan stated that research has proven that Africa will have an additional 300 million Internet users and Nigeria will lead in that number, given its current statistics of over 141 million internet subscribers and broadband penetration of over 40.88 percent as at January 2022.

The Equiano cable system is the third private international cable owned by Google and the 14th subsea cable invested by Google. Equiano connects Portugal and South Africa, running along the West Coast of Africa, with branching units along the way that can be used to extend connectivity to more African countries. The first branch is expected to land in Nigeria by end of April 2022.

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