Unsatisfied with the implementation
process of Nigerian National Broadband Plan, which has a five year
longevity period, the federal government has said it will review the
plan by the end of 2018, when its longevity period will elapse.
Minister of Communications, Adebayo
Shittu, who made the disclosure in an interview with THISDAY in Lagos,
said the review would be necessary in order to finetune its contents, in
line with global technology trends. He also said timeframe would be
considered in achieving certain parameters in the reviewed broadband
plan, in order to speed up broadband penetration in the country.
“We have a broadband plan that is
designed to make broadband available to all Nigerians. The broadband
plan is a five year plan from 2013 to 2018, but hopefully it will be
reviewed by the end of next year. By next year we will review the
broadband plan and come up with new plan that will catchup with modern
technology trends,” Shittu told THISDAY.
Analysing the plan further, the minister
said the target of 30 per cent broadband penetration as enshrined in
the plan was even a low target for Nigeria, considering the clamour for
ubiquitous broadband access by Nigerians.
He however expressed optimism that the
country would surpass the 30 per cent penetration target, given the
current statistics, which he said, showed some significant growth level
in the country’s broadband penetration.
According to him, “broadband is the
enabler to technology development of any nation. The issue of broadband
accessibility is the key to technology development. So government wants
Nigerians to come together and ensure that broadband is accessible and
affordable to all Nigerians. Government is encouraging private sector
investment in broadband in order to make it accessible and affordable,”
Shittu assured Nigerians.
He however explained that the existing
broadband infrastructure in the country would be improved to make
broadband not only ubiquitous, but also accessible and affordable.
Giving some clues on how government
plans to boost broadband growth in the country, Shittu said government
has opened talks with Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) to
collaborate with it in making broadband internet affordable to all
Nigerians.
Shittu added: ’’This government had long
considered it that it has no business in business. All that the
government needs do is to provide the enabling environment for ICT-led
industry businesses to thrive. We have been having some financial
interventions through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) of the
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Government is also getting
funding from the National Information Technology Development Agency
(NITDA) and other agencies to support various government projects, which
include broadband penetration.’’
The federal government, through the
Ministry of Communications Technology, had in 2012, set up a
presidential committee on national broadband plan, with the former
Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe as Chairman of the
committee and the Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia as co-Chairman.
The committee, which submitted its
report timely enough, was applauded for a thorough job done, but
Nigerians have not been pleased with the actions of those who were
supposed to drive the implementation process of the broadband plan,
while blaming the slow broadband penetration on the poor implementation
process of the broadband plan.
Worried about the implementation
process, the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the umbrella body of all
computer professionals in the country, had earlier called on the federal
government to expedite the full implementation of the country’s five
year broadband plan.
President of NCS, Prof. Adesola
Aderounmu, who called for diligent implementation of the plan,
emphasised the need for the immediate enactment of a critical National
Infrastructure Bill, which he said, would help deepen broadband
penetration, spur economic growth and attain national safety and
security.
Thisdaylive
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