The chairman and members of the National Broadband Plan Committee 2020-2025, has in a record time of two months completed work and submitted their report to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on Tuesday, February 18, 2020.
The report was presented to the honourable minister in his office in Abuja by the Chairman of the Committee and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MainOne Cable, Ms. Funke Opeke.
Business Hilights recalls that the 25-member Committee was inaugurated on Tuesday, December 17, 2020 and was charged to deliver a work that will not only deepen penetration of broadband, but make the growth of the sector seamless in the five years of the new plan.
The Committee is co-chaired by Dr. Bashir Gwandu, former Executive Commissioner Technical Services at NCC, while Engr. Ubale Maska, NCC’s Executive Commissioner Technical Services is the Secretary of the Committee.
In attendance at the presentation ceremony includes members of the Committee, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta was also present at the event.
Dr. Pantami inaugurated the Committee on 16 December 2019 to develop a new National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 that will be a guiding template for further development of the telecommunications sector.
This followed the expiration of the 2013-2018 National Broadband Plan which was designed to achieve at least 30 percent broadband penetration in Nigeria. At the expiration of the old Plan, Nigeria achieved 37.8 percent broadband coverage.
At the inauguration of the new NBP Committee, Pantami also urged the members to review the old plan, examine its challenges and proffer solutions. He equally urged the committee to undertake the assignment in the context of growing and emerging technologies.
The new broadband plan, being developed with the support and collaboration of the Government of the United Kingdom (UK), is expected to increase broadband penetration to 70 percent by 2025 in order to give concrete expression to Federal Government’s commitment to making Nigeria a truly digital economy.
It will be recalled that on January 3, 2020, while engaging the Nigerian press at a Media Briefing and Chat, Dr. Pantami promised that the report of the new NBP Committee will be ready in the first quarter of the year 2020.
