Nigeria’s telecommunications sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, has said that the plan to hold the next edition of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation forum in Nigeria will boost the implementation of the newly-approved broadband plan in the country.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, disclosed this during a breakfast meeting with top CTO officials in Lagos on Friday.
With the theme ‘Beyond Broadband’, the forum, scheduled to hold in Abuja between October 7 and 11, 2013, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication Technology, will provide an avenue for Nigeria to extensively discuss its Broadband Plan 2013-2018 and woo investors.
According to him, the programme will play host to about 20 foreign ministers of communications technology from around Africa, as well as other key industry experts from within and outside the country.
Juwah noted that though Nigeria was still contending with quality of service issue, most especially with regard to data services through broadband infrastructure roll-out, “subscribers are going to benefit immensely from the event as the forum is focused on broadband.”
He maintained that he made broadband deployment one of his cardinal programmes when he assumed office over two years ago, stressing that effective deployment of broadband in Nigeria would unleash a new phase of competition in the telecoms sector.
“Effective broadband deployment will put new economic powers in the hands of the Nigerian people wherever they may reside. The broadband plan has the objective of promoting pervasive broadband deployment, increase broadband adoption and usage,” he said.
He said NCC was committed to the proper implementation of the broadband plan objective was to ensure availability of broadband services at affordable prices, in order to maximise the political and socio-economic benefits of broadband in Nigeria.