The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, today officially inaugurated the Nigerian National Broadband Plan Committee for the Development of the 2020-2025 National Broadband Plan for Nigeria.
A statement obtained by Igbere TV said the move “is part of the effort to foster the growth of a Digital Economy in Nigeria in line with the re-energized Mandate of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.”
The Inauguration ceremony which was held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja had in attendance representative of the UK Government, Heads of Agencies under the supervision of the Ministry, Stakeholders from both the public and private sectors and members of the press.
The 26-member committee has individuals drawn from the public and private sectors and is being co-chaired by the Managing Director / CEO, MainOne Cable Company Nigeria Limited, Ms Funke Opeke and Former Executive Commissioner, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Bashir Gwandu.
In his remarks, the Minister reiterated the importance of putting aside personal interest and uphold professionalism, integrity and objectivity in the discharge of the critical national assignment.
The Minister said, “selection criteria for members of the committee was based on competence, integrity and professionalism”. Adding that “we did not restrict the Nigerian National Broadband Plan to only this administration, the target is Nigeria, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari led administration is out to support Nigeria and make decisions in her best interest.
Dr Pantami further stressed the importance of broadband penetration, citing an example with the world development report of 2016 which states that, A 10% increase in fixed broadband penetration triggers an average increase of 3.19% in Per Capita GDP of a Nation.
Pantami also revealed that the Ministry under his watch is working hard to address the challenges of the telecommunications sector such as Right of Way (RoW), consideration of Telecom Infrastructures as Critical National Infrastructures among others.
