For the critical role being played by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under the leadership of its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, in advancing the frontiers of broadband development has been recognised at this year’s edition of the Nigeria Tech Innovation and Telecoms Awards (NTITA), 2020.
Regarded as the Oscars of Nigeria’s telecoms industry, the awards, powered by Instinctwave, Africa’s leading business-to-business event organizer in collaboration with the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Abuja at the weekend, saw the Commission and other industry stakeholders, including the Hon. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, carting away distinguished awards.
Danbatta was honoured with the “Broadband Oxygenator of the Year” for his remarkable role and commitment to the development of broadband infrastructure to support the country’s digital economy drive while NCC, as a corporate organisation received the “Outstanding Contribution to Driving Greater Broadband Penetration Award of the Year.”
Through the articulation of a Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) for the fiscal years 2015-2020, which symbolises the focused leadership Danbatta brought on board as the chief telecoms regulator in the country, broadband penetration increased from 6 percent in 2015 to 45.43 in September, 2020.
Also, basic active internet subscription grew from 90 million to 143.7 million while active voice subscription increased from 151 million to 205.25 percent during the same period with teledensity also reaching 107.53 percent as at end of September, 2020.
The last five years have seen the number of licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCo) increasing from two in 2015 to six currently. The InfraCos are to deploy broadband infrastructure, on a wholesale basis in the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
The Commission is currently reviewing the framework for the licensing of InfraCo to ensure sustainable funding options for effective implementation of the proposed national fibre project towards increasing broadband penetration to 70 percent target, as set in the new national broadband plan by 2025.
The ongoing review of the InfraCo framework is to cater for the delays in take-off, change in exchange rate, supply chain and other challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to InfraCo implementation.
NCC and Danbatta’s recognitions at the NTITA 2020 were also hinged on the increase in the contribution of the telecom sector the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 8.5 percent in 2015 to 14.30 percent as of the second quarter of 2020, translating to N2.272 trillion in financial value.
In the last five years, under Danbatta leadership, telecoms investment grew from around $38 billion to over $70 billion currently with appreciable remittances in spectrum fees and operating surplus by the NCC into the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
Increased e-commerce services, other digital services and more access to financial inclusion were also enabled through increased deployment of broadband infrastructure being promoted by the telecoms regulator through a number of regulatory initiatives.
Speaking on the significance of the NTITA, President of ATCON, Olusola Teniola, said: “Our thinking is that if we decide to ignore the contribution that our sector has made to the development of Nigeria by not recognizing the actors that made it possible, what we are saying invariably is that we are unappreciative of their concerted efforts in changing the story of our industry.”
He hoped that the awards would spur the Nigerian government to pay more attention to the sector and that state governments would continue to support the efforts of the industry to transform their various states into digital cities.
In the same vain, inq.Digital Nigeria Limited, received Telecom Business of the Year and best Unified Communications Provider of the Year in the recently concluded Nigeria Information Technology & Telecom Awards powered by Instinct Wave UK, in partnership with Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
Akin Naphtal, Chief Executive Officer, Instinct Wave said the choice of inq.Digital Nigeria is based on popular votes by members of the general public and members of the Information Technology community that have come to recognize the reputational capital of inq.Digital Nigeria within the industry.
According to Akin, inq.Digital Nigeria's footprint in the country is synonymous with technology and digital development with a consistently positive contribution to the development of the sector through the provision of unique cloud and digital solutions services.
In response to the awards, Valentine Chime, Managing Director inq.Digital Nigeria, thanked the organizers for recognizing the series of activities, roles, and the contribution of inq. Digital in the country's sojourn in the technology and digital space.
Valentine stated that the organizers of Nigeria Technology and Telecom Awards have consistently provided quality information for the industry through various platforms such that the award programme has evolved to be an independent rating institution.
"The rating, commendation, as well as rewarding institutions, is reputable. We accept the awards as a reward for excellent jobs executed in the past year. We are committed as a brand to extend the frontier of technology at the global stage. As an emerging leading cloud and digital solutions provider, we will continue to leverage our core strength of innovation, exceptional customer service and regional expertise to provide simpler, seamless digital solutions to complex business challenges".
He went further to reveal that inq. Digital's vision is to reimagine a better future through digital solutions with a continuous culture of innovation and curiosity focusing on solutions that improve the future.
inq.Digital is a leading Cloud and Digital service provider with presence in 6 African countries (Nigeria, Botswana, Zambia, Cameron, Cote d'Ivoire, and Malawi). inq. Digital delivers cutting edge solutions across five major service categories: Edge AI Solutions, SDN/NFV Solutions, Cloud-Based Solutions, Digital Solutions, and Intelligent Connectivity.
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