Broadband penetration: NCC mulls 120,000 kilometres optic fiber by 2023

Ladesope Ladelokun

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has expressed readiness to cause the laying of not less than120000 kilometres optic fiber by 2023 to aid pervasive broadband penetration.

Danbatta made this known at a valedictory press conference held in honour of the Minister of Communications, Barr Adebayo Shittu Danbatta, also revealed that the NCC had caused the expansion of the frontiers of access to Information and Communications Technology, adding that data usage had quadrupled from 20 terabytes in 2015 to 85 in 2019.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Infrastructure Company, MainOne, says it has committed N25 billion to lay 2,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables across Lagos in three years.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke told journalists on Tuesday that the InfraCo was committed to collaborating with the Lagos State government and other stakeholders to build a digital Lagos and help citizens to enjoy a better quality of life.

“MainOne is pleased to have the opportunity to present its plan for Digital Lagos, a proven path to ubiquitous broadband connectivity. This plan will involve the investment by MainOne of over N25 billion over the next 2-3 years to develop critical fiber optic infrastructure to enable broadband services across Lagos state.”

Opeke added that the network to be built by MainOne would provide essential connectivity to critical state institutions, 10,000 state CCTV locations, telecom operators, over 300 government agencies, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, et al.

Earlier, Danbatta had lamented that the Right of Way issue had refused to go despite the existence of a document guiding what should be charged.

Also, he called for more Information and Communications Technology capacity building in the country in order to take advantage of the digital transformation that is taking place in the world.