Johnson, ComTech Minister Upbeat on National Broadband Plan

Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology has reiterated that plans at the national level to deepen broadband availability and affordability in the country was achievable, particularly with growing understanding among Nigerian on the efficacies of the services.

Johnson made the remark on Monday in Lagos, during a mini-launch of public awareness campaign tagged: “Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians”, aimed at educating individuals and small scale business owners on the effectiveness of the internet viz-a-viz the opportunities inherent in broadband services.

The Minister added that, empirically, it has been proven that every 10% increase in broadband penetration in developing countries results in a commensurate increase of 1.3% in GDP. “The most credible statistics on broadband penetration estimate that Nigeria’s broadband penetration is between 4% and 6%, further underscoring the need for Nigeria to give strategic importance to the development of broadband infrastructure,” she said.

She said that the Nigeria National Broadband Policy (NNBP) recently drafted, presented to and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) emphasises the importance and centrality of broadband to achieving the overall objective of ICT as a tool for national development.

In addition, efforts are on to deploy more comprehensive and integrated use of information and communications technology (ICT) in government to provide better response to citizens’ demands, improve service delivery and make administration more efficient. “Broadband can help in that regards too.

“It is true that the industry has witnessed 25 to 30% consistent growth in the last three years the Ministry was created, we know that there are rooms for improvement. However, we cannot fold our hands as a country waiting for the time the infrastructure are in abundance before we start telling Nigerians that they can actually utilize the internet in creating jobs, grow their businesses and effect changes in their environments,” she added.

According to her, efforts involving government’s unrelenting drives in reaching out to stakeholders to aid the operators in deploying critical infrastructure like the laying of fiber cables cannot be overemphasized.

She cited the recent agreement between the Ministry and the Lagos State Government to slash the prices Right of Way (RoW) to telecom operators in building critical infrastructure for broadband services is an achievement that could be replicated in other States.

During discussions with industry leaders, the message became very clear that we need to assist the Private Sector in driving pervasive access to Broadband. But then, the Private Sector must also deliver not just on basic reach and penetration, but also on Quality of Service. It is only in doing this that all Nigerians will truly feel the positive impact and benefit of Broadband,” the Minister emphasized.