TECHDIGEST – The number of identified areas of clusters across Nigeria without access to the telecommunications services has been reduced by 53.1 per cent as at the end of 2022.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed this at a recent telecoms industry stakeholders forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.

Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the Head, Pre-Licensing at the Commission, Usman Mamman, said from 207 clusters of access gaps in 2013, the industry has witnessed a reduction to 97 as of end 2022 by bridging 110 clusters of access gaps, representing a 53.1 per cent reduction.

He said by implication, the number of Nigerians who fell within the access gap which were estimated at 37 million in 2013 has been reduced to 27 million, following increased access to telecoms services by those hitherto not digitally included.

Access gaps refer to the cluster of communities or grouped areas in different parts of the country that are bereft of access to telecom services and till date, the NCC has reduced clusters of access gap by more than half.

READ ALSO:Danbatta Receives APPON Award, Assures of Broadband Support for e-Procurement

Danbatta said, “We have worked tirelessly to ensure we bring telecom services to people living in rural, unserved, and underserved areas of this country, totalling 37 million people courtesy of the consultancy that was conducted in 2013.

“By 2019, we had succeeded in reducing the clusters of access gaps to 114 through the deployment of the necessary infrastructure needed to bring services to people living in rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country. The deployment of infrastructure is in terms of base transceiver stations, which resulted in the reduction of Nigerians in those clusters from 37 million to 31 million in 2019.

“By 2022, we have reduced the clusters of access gaps to 97 from 207 in 2013. The number of Nigerians again have come down from 37 million in 2013 to 27 million as we speak. We achieved this by deploying, from 2009 to 2011, a total of 79 new base transceiver stations,” he said

Danbatta stated that in 2013 to 2018, the telecom sector also witnessed the deployment of additional 124 base transceiver stations while from 2019 to 2022, a total of 364 base transceiver stations were deployed.

“So far, the total number of base transceiver stations we have deployed to date between the time the access gaps were identified till the end of 2022 are 567,” he said.

While describing the reduction in access gap so far as a landmark, Danbatta, however, said the Commission will not rest on its oars as it thrives to ensure that the remaining 27 million Nigerians, who currently lack access to telecoms services, are provided with services.

Meanwhile, the EVC said part the regulatory interventions of the Commission to bridge the remaining 97 access across the country to provide ubiquitous connectivity in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are the issuance of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licences and the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) networks, among others.

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TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is promoting a Nigeria Country Pavilion and a Startup Pavilion at the GITEX GLOBAL, the world’s largest tech and startup event holding in Dubai, UAE from 10-14 October.

The two Nigerian pavilions are featuring nearly 30 exhibitors from the public and private sectors to headline one of the strongest showing Nigeria has ever had since it started showcasing at GITEX in 2013.

The 42nd edition of GITEX GLOBAL is the equivalent of 33 football fields and has 26 halls across 2 million sq. ft to provide enough room for an incredible more than 5,000 companies and more than 200, 000 attendees from 170 countries.

For five days, beginning next week Monday, the global communities will gather in record capacity at GITEX GLOBAL inside the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) in a world record event outpacing all previous editions of the event.

READ ALSO:Nigerian tech startups employ 19,334 people as of 2022 – report

According to Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) organisers of the annual global tech event, “the bigger national innovation pavilions are coming from USA, France, Germany, UK, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Turkey and Brazil. The event is recording first-time showcases from Cyprus, Ethiopia, EU, Kuwait, and Uganda.”

GITEX Global is bringing together over 230 government entities presenting their strategic digital projects and public-private partnerships.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, is leading Nigeria’s presence at this 42nd edition joined by the Director General, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, whose agency is the anchor of Nigeria’s participation at GITEX since 2013; and other CEOs including Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta; Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Professor Muhammad Bello Abubakar; and Director General, Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz Abubakar.

Lagos comes to GITEX GLOBAL

Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, leads delegation from Lagos state as Nigeria’s commercial capital makes its debut at the largest global tech meet inside the Nigeria Country Pavilion and the Nigeria Startup Pavilion where Lagos has about 11 of the over 24 startups Nigeria is promoting through the NITDA.

Aside Lagos, the Nigeria Country Pavilion is housing the Bank of Industry (BoI), Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), NIMC, Zinox Technologies, NITDA, NCC, NIPEX, and Galaxy Backbone in what will be a record appearance for Africa’s largest economy.

GITEX GLOBAL 2022 focusing on digital economy

GITEX GLOBAL is offering a huge vista to meet tech leaders including Microsoft, Huawei, IBM, Dell Technologies, Ericsson, Avaya, Honeywell, HPE, e&, Lenovo, Cisco, and over 1,400 new exhibitors all showcasing groundbreaking applications in metaverse, AI, Web 3.0, blockchain, 6G, cloud, fintech and future mobility.

GITEX GLOBAL 2022 is focusing on the global digital economy in full velocity mode, embracing the return of the world’s largest, most inclusive tech and start-up event to host

With the participation of more than 250 government entities leading strategic digital projects and public-private partnerships, and 800-plus start-ups seeking their next big break in North Star Dubai, the GITEX 3.0 edition will unite the world’s most influential ecosystems advancing business, economy, society and culture.

“As the curious audience attempts to make sense of the real versus virtual world we are creating, GITEX GLOBAL takes the helm in partnering with global tech leaders to empower, enlighten and enthuse everyone on the metamorphosis of the digital economy. This is GITEX 3.0,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President of Events Management at Dubai World Trade Centre, GITEX GLOBAL’s organiser

GITEX 3.0 series includes launches of Global DevSlam and X-VERSE

With a fully immersive deep dive into the digital universe, GITEX GLOBAL presents its 3.0 edition with Ai Everything, North Star Dubai (formerly GITEX Future Stars), Fintech Surge, Future Blockchain Summit, and Marketing Mania.

Two new events will also be launched this year, selling out to a global audience within two months: Global DevSlam, and X-VERSE.

Committed to creating a thriving home in the UAE for international coders and developers and advancing the digital economy, Global DevSlam is the Middle East’s largest ever coder and developer meetup, connecting 10,000 coders alongside developers from the world’s biggest tech companies, including Anaconda, AWS, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat.

The fully subscribed event is supported by Coders (HQ) and inspired by the UAE’s mission of building the world’s best coder and developer ecosystem, with the country now offering its long-term residency Golden Visa to 100,000 qualified coders from around the world.

Global DevSlam also welcomes the worldwide python community with the launch of Pycon MEA, featuring a line-up of renowned Python masters coming together for the first time in the region.

Setting another first, X-VERSE, in partnership with Decentraland, curates one of the world’s most immersive metaverse journeys, providing a never before seen experience into the greatest shifts and the most potentially disruptive industry applications of the metaverse.

With real-world case-studies and never-seen-before virtual experiences across manufacturing, gaming, education, healthcare, retail and the future of work, X-VERSE will enable global enterprises to understand and adopt this nascent technological development.

North Star Dubai shines with unstoppable start-up entrepreneurship momentum

Launched as GITEX Future Stars in 2016, the newly renamed North Star Dubai in 2022 underlines the ongoing evolution of the global start-up ecosystem, and the important role start-ups play in advancing innovation and international business collaboration.

North Star Dubai, with its strategic partner the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, is amplifying this trend, with the world’s largest start-up event adding another hall with 30 percent extra capacity, bringing together more than 800 exhibitors from 60 countries with over 600 investors in a thriving, innovative entrepreneur ecosystem.

Smashing geographic boundaries, North Star Dubai also introduces ‘Africa Fast 100’, the largest ever gathering of African start-ups to be hosted outside Africa, connecting investors with Unicorn prospects from the world’s fast-rising tech incubator.

International footprint and power-packed conference programme

GITEX GLOBAL’s vast international footprint is highlighted by new national pavilions from Cyprus, Ethiopia, the European Union, Kuwait, Uganda, and Turkey. The United States, France, Germany, the UK, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Brazil, are among those with increased presence to showcase their national technology prowess and leading innovations.

Inspirational insights and unparalleled knowledge sharing will also come to the fore, as 14 dedicated conference tracks deliver more than 500 hours of thought-provoking talks, case studies, industry trends, and workshops.

A stellar line-up of more than 1,000 government ministers, global technology leaders and experts will share their perspectives on major trends, from A.I., cloud computing, crypto, 6G, and the metaverse, to the new frontier of future mobility, from flying cars to electric aircraft.

More information is available at www.gitex.com

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TECHDIGEST – Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, has said that the level of awareness of the potentials of telecommunications products and services is a credit to the media industry which has partnered with the Commission in the regulatory process.

Danbatta who was the Keynote Speaker at the dinner hosted by the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Media Merit Award, NMMA, to flag-off the commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of NMMA as Africa’s foremost media excellence recognition institution, at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel on Tuesday, said this is why the telecom regulator holds the media at very high esteem.

At the event where the Director, Public Affairs of the NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, presented the keynote on behalf of Danbatta, the CEO of NCC sought greater collaboration with the media describing the media systems of communication as central to social progress and are thus critical partners the NCC requires to succeed in its determination to consolidate the gains of telecommunication.

Dwelling on the topic, “The NCC New Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP) 2021-2025: A Transformation Agenda”, which signposts the direction of the Nigerian telecom industry in the next five years, Danbatta recalled the trajectory of the evolution of telecoms in Nigeria, with reference to the nation’s showing of a paltry 18,724 telephone lines at independence in 1960 to serve a population of 40 million people, translating to a teledensity of 0.5, to the present time (as at July 2022), when “active telecoms subscribers have grown significantly hitting 209 million from about 400,000 aggregate telephone lines in the country on the eve of concrete deregulation in the year 2000.

“This represents a teledensity of 109.47%. Besides, basic Internet subscriptions have also grown from zero in the pre-liberalisation era to over 152 million. It is also gratifying that the broadband subscriptions now stand at 85 million, representing a 44.49% penetration.”

Today, “the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector contributed 18.44 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2022. From this figure, telecommunications sector alone contributed 15 per cent,” Danbatta said to place on record the unprecedented contribution of the telecom and ICT industry to GDP.

Danbatta, also spoke extensively on the policy initiatives of the Federal Government and the continued support of government as crucial to the accomplishment of the feat in the telecom industry.

Giving an indication that the Board, Management and staff of the Commission will not rest on their oars and will continue to re-engineer and promote innovations to make the nation to harness benefits that are accruable in a digital economy.

Danbatta said the objective of the Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP) 2021-2025 is to consolidate on the accomplishments of the Commission under the SVP 2015-2020, otherwise called The Eight Point Agenda, the forerunner of the SVP 2021-2025, in order to take the Commission to a greater height where it will make even more superlative contributions to the national economy.

Otherwise dubbed the SVP II, the new Strategic Vision Plan 2021-2025 is designed as a transformation agenda for the Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

The EVC said, it is the reason the new SVP’s focal objectives are to ensure: Organizational Renewal for Operational Efficiency and Regulatory Excellence; Facilitate the Provision of Infrastructure for a Digital Economy which fosters National Development; Promote Fair Competition, Inclusive Growth, Increased investment and Innovative Services; Improve Quality of Service (QoS) for Enhanced Consumer Quality of Experience (QoE); and Facilitate Strategic Collaboration and Partnership.

Danbatta said the significance of telecom as an enabler of other sectors’ growth and its centrality to achieving better quality of life by the citizens underscored the need for a renewed partnership and collaboration with all media of communication. “For the media, it means the process of news gathering, processing and dissemination will be accomplished faster, thus enabling the media to inform and educate the citizens on happenings around them more timeously, accurately, and adequately towards achieving greater socio-economic development in our country,” the EVC stated.

The event was attended by many stakeholders in the media, including Mr. Martins Oloja, Chairman Editorial Board, The Guardian; representative of government, including the Governor of Lagos who was represented by Olumide Shogunle, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information; and traditional leaders, including the Makama Ringim, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim, who was Director General of NTA, and equally a former Director General of Radio Nigeria, and who received Special Recognition Award at the occasion.

Others are octogenarian veteran journalist and thespian, Dame Taiwo Ajai-Lycet, who, while taking the Vote of Thanks, particularly commended the EVC for a very thoughtful and contextual presentation; Academics, including Prof. Stella Okunna, sub-Saharan Africa’s first female professor of mass communication; Alhaji Garba Kankarofi, Chief Yemi Akeju, the Chief Administrator of NMMA; advertising gurus, Senator Akin Odunsi, Sir Steve Omojafor, and Dele Adetiba; Director General National Broadcasting Commission, Mr. Balarabe Ilelah; and many entrepreneurs,  and other enthusiasts in the media and arts world.

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