Pantami inaugurates 25-man committee to develop a new national broadband plan

Isa Pantami, the minister of communications and digital economy, has inaugurated a 25-man committee to develop a new national broadband plan.

The new plan (NBP 2020-2025) is a sequel to the first NBP 2013-2018.

Speaking at the inauguration, Pantami said there is a need to boost broadband penetration from its present coverage of 37.8% to over 70% in the next five years.

According to the minister, pervasive broadband penetration will make Nigeria a truly digital economy.

The committee is chaired by Funke Opeke, the managing director of Main One Cable Company Limited, and co-chaired by Bashir Gwandu.

Ubale Maska, the executive commissioner of technical services at Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is the secretary to the committee. and will be supported by four staff of the ministry in the secretariat.

“The committee is to develop a new national broadband plan that will be the guiding template for the development of this very important area of telecommunications,” a statement by Henry Nkemadu, NCC’s director of public affairs, read.

“The committee is to take a critical look at where the country is after a painstaking review of the 2013-2018 phase and the status of penetration now. The members are enjoined to also examine the challenges with a view to proffering solutions thereto.

“They should also look at the position of growing and emerging technologies among others. The new NBP has the collaboration and support of the United Kingdom (UK) government.”

The inauguration of the new committee was a follow-up to the launch of the National Policy for Digital Economy and Strategy by President Muhammadu Buhari, in November 2019.

The policy has eight pillars among which are developmental regulation, digital literacy and skills, solid infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital services development and production, digital society, emerging technologies and indigenous content development.

The minister told the committee members to lay emphasis on the third pillar of the national policy which accommodates broadband and data centre, key components for economic growth and promotion of digital economy.

The committee’s work, he explained, will address significantly one of the eight pillars and the remaining seven will also run as one of this all-important pillar.

“The work of this committee will go a very long way in supporting the national digital economic policy and strategy for the federal government because the digital economy is strategically dominating the world economy today,” Pantami said.

According to Pantami, members of the committee were selected based on their competence, integrity and professionalism saying: “In all these, Nigeria comes first.”

Opeke, who responded on behalf of the committee thanked the minister for the opportunity to serve and said the target of the committee is to achieve, at least, 65-70% broadband penetration across Nigeria in the next five years, adding that the objective is technology neutrality for the right purpose.