ATCON, NCC, Others Pick June 9 to Address 70% Broadband Target

All is set for stakeholders across Nigeria’s telecoms sector and beyond to converge on Thursday June 9, 2022 and chart way for the implementation of 70% broadband penetration target in Nigeria.

In 2020, Nigeria set a new broadband penetration target of 70% to be achieved by 2025, coming on the heels of the success recorded with the initial broadband target of 30% from 2013 to 2018.

The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has put the event together with a view to reawakening consciousness on the need to rev up efforts to attain the target as contained in the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025).

ATCON tagged the gathering National Strategic Mobilization for the Actualization of National Broadband Target of 70% Conference and Exhibition with the theme – Realizing the new set target of 70% of Broadband Penetration, and slated for Thursday, June 9, 2022 at Chida Event Centre, Plot 224, Solomon Lar Way, Utako District, Abuja.

The national forum is being sponsored by  Nigerian Communication Commission, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, Main One Cable Company Nigeria Limited, MTN Nigeria, IHS Nigeria Limited, Pan African Towers, Medallion Communications Limited, VDT Communications Limited, Rack Center, IPNX and NITDA.

What ATCON is Saying

While speaking on the event, ATCON President, Engineer Ikechukwu Nnamani, said there would be active participation at the event by key stakeholders from both public and private sectors.

Nnamani

He said: “We have received attendance confirmation of Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy; Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, EVC/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Dr Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau respectively. Other industry thought leaders are also expected to grace the event.”

ATCON also provided a link for the public to register on or before Firday, June 3 2022 to be part of the discussion.

What You Need to Know

In December, 2019, through the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the federal government revealed its intention to boost broadband penetration from its then coverage of 37.8% to 70% in the next five years.

This is contained in the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) which was later launched in the first quarter of 2020 to serve as the blue print for achieving the target.

To put this in perspective, broadband refers to highspeed internet connectivity offered by the third and fourth generation long term evolutions (3G and 4G LTE).

At the Submission of the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) by the Committee chaired by Ms. Funke Opeke, CEO, MainOne in 2020 to the Honourable Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami.

Two years down the line and with just three more years to go, broadband penetration in Nigeria has moved back and forth, and according to the latest industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), broadband now stood at 42.27% as at the first quarter of 2022.

This means to meet the 70% target; stakeholders must chart way for addition 27.73% broadband increase from its current level of 42.27% and this is what ATCON seeks to achieve with its forthcoming conference.

The latest statistics also shows that out of a total 145.85 million telephone lines already connected to the internet via the narrowband, 80.68 million have access to either 3G or 4G networks and the remaining 65.17 million are connected to 2G network which falls below the broadband standard.

Business Metrics will also point out that with the total active telephone lines in the country standing at 199.56 million as at March this year, approximately 53.71 million subscriptions to telephony in the country completely lack internet connectivity.

Why This Matters

• Broadband has been described repeatedly as an enabler of socio-economic growth in any country.
• The need for broadband in Nigeria particularly is very imperative at the moment as the country charges decisively towards building a digital economy ecosystem.
• The new broadband plan is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria, a minimum of 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90% of the population by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data (2% of median income or 1% of minimum wage).
• According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), a 10% increase in broadband penetration is associated with a 1.4% increase in gross domestic products (GDP) growth in emerging markets.
• Studies elsewhere have also said the ripple effect of a 10% growth in broadband can push the GDP above 2%.