Remarks by the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, during the virtual forum on Right of Way Reforms and Planning Permits for Masts and Towers in Nigeria organised by the British Government’s Prosperity Fund’s Digital Access Programme in collaboration with Nigerian Communications Commission and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy on Thursday, August 13, 2020. Key stakeholders, who participated at the virtual conference include Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isah Ali Ibrahim (Pantami); the UK Government’s Digital Access Programme Adviser and Country Lead, Idongesit Udo; Governors of Ekiti, Katsina, Sokoto, Imo, Plateau and Kwara states, representatives of state governments; members of the Presidential Committee on Broadband Plan monitoring and implementation; industry and private sector leaders in tech and telecommunications sector, civil society groups and the media.
In maximizing the benefits of digital transformation, resilient Telecoms Infrastructure is the key enabler in delivering ICT services. Therefore, this technical conference is apt, as it provides effective solutions to Right of Way (RoW) challenges amongst others.
Action Points/ Next Steps
The input of this conference will assist the Government in further reducing the encumbrances bedeviling ICT infrastructure, especially in the provision/ building of resilient fixed Infrastructure in the federation.
Equally, this event will further assist in our quest to deepen broadband deployment and penetration in Nigeria.
Furthermore, ubiquitous broadband will propel social and economic development and growth of citizens, as in; local content development & innovations, the proliferation of ICT industries, building digital skills, etc.
The NCC on its part is ready to collaborate with the UK Government Prosperity Fund-Nigeria Project, especially on the subject matter of today, i.e. reforming the administration of RoW and planning permits in Nigeria.
We note, the short, medium, and long-tern actions set up in the report and we will work assiduously to their achievement. We also, encourage our service providers to appreciate some of the challenges faced by the state government and hope this will enable them to collaborate with the state government to effectively overcome the challenges.
The Commission congratulates and thank the UK Government Prosperity Fund Digital Access Project team for organizing this event.
Also, the Commission commends the robust contributions of all stakeholders and the general support of the UK Government to Nigeria’s digital transformation processes, in particular to this event. It is a conversation of ideas that will support existing policies and commitment to Broadband for all.
