IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Addressing journalists in Abuja on the ITU World conference coming up in October, he also stated that broadband technology is geared towards bringing developing countries into the knowledge economy.

The Lagos State Government is set to acquire a 3000km fibre cable to enable the provision of WiFi connectivity to ease business transactions in the state, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engr Aramide Adeyoye, has said.

Adeyoye who made this known during a chat with journalists at the “2019 West Africa Digital Construction Conference,” held at Radisson Blu, Hotel, Ikeja Lagos, opined that the development was in line with the smart city dream of Lagos.

No doubt, the jet age is an era that has been greeted by enormous inventions and display of human ingenuity which has gone a long way in revolutionising the global society and the economy of many countries across the globe. Interestingly, human ingenuity in the area of technological developments have made the world a global village as it has brought people from different parts of the world closer with little or no difficulty.

Goodluck said that lack of a broadband policy posed greater challenge to ICT services in the country. “Government also needs to articulate policies and strategies for driving broadband usage through eGovernance, eCommerce and eEconomy services. Broadband penetration is meaningless without appropriate regulatory environment which will enhance the delivery of converged services,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu claims metro fibre cables will bridge broadband gap

Early adoption and deployment of technology will be crucial to any e-govt strategies in Nigeria.

This was the submission of participants at the Nigeria e-Government Summit 2020 held in Lagos, yesterday.

Mr. Lanre Ajayi, the new president of the association in a paper presented at the just concluded West African ICT Conference and Exhibition (Wafict) in Lagos last week, noted that the country faced bandwidth distribution challenge arising from lack of adequate national transmission backbone and unavailability of spectrum for last mile connectivity. He also stated that the low demand for broadband was caused by lack of local content and e-services.

Anambra State scored a remarkable feat on March 30 by becoming the first state in Nigeria to bring together eminent stakeholders in a conference to singularly address the obstacles facing broadband deployment and expansion in the country. The well-attended conference rallied stakeholders and investors to Anambra State’s readiness and willingness to expand broadband infrastructure for accelerated socioeconomic development of the State celebrated as “The Light of the Nation”.

Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State, takes pride of place as the first leader in South-East Nigeria to implement the waiver of the per linear meter Right of Way (RoW) charges as opposed to the N145 per linear meter recommended by the National Economic Council.

The vice chairman, represented by the commission’s director of public affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, disclosed this at the 3rd West African Information and Communication Technology Congress. He noted that the commission has commenced preliminary appraisal of the smooth take off of broadband to achieve sub-regional integration.

President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Olusola Teniola, has disclosed that one of the focus of the federal government this year would be funding mobile broadband revolution, so that investor confidence is not eroded any further.

Teniola, who heads the affairs of ATCON, the umbrella body for all telecoms companies in Nigeria, speaks on this and other issues.

Dass die Zukunft auch im Consumer-Segment der Glasfaser gehört und DSL im Prinzip schon Tod ist - Stichwort: Übersprechen, Leitungslänge und Parallelität -, bestreitet niemand mehr. Der Ausweg aus diesem Dilemma, die Vernetzung per Glasfaser, schien sich bislang nur in Großstädten zu rechnen. Nachdem viele Kommunen schon bei DSL in die Röhre schauten, drohen sie nun beim Breitband-Internet per Glasfaser endgültig den Anschluss zu verlieren. Dass es auch anders geht will die kleine niedersächsische Gemeinde Oerel beweisen. Das gerade mal 320 Haushalte und 30 Gewerbetreibende umfassende Dorf gönnt sich eine eigene Glasfaserinfrastruktur, um mit der Breitband-Zukunft Schritt zu halten.

Seit Dienstag gilt eine neue Zeitrechnung bei der Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Landkreis Rotenburg und seinen Kommunen. Landrat Dr.Hans-Harald Fitschen und Bothels Samtgemeindebürgermeister Rüdiger Woltmann haben den ersten Spatenstich für den Bau einer Glasfaserleitung von Rotenburg nach Bothel gesetzt.

The road ahead will be long. Demand for data, internet and networking services is growing rapidly, but Nigeria's ranking in the 2013 Network Readiness Index (NRI), published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in late July, fell by one spot in 2012, to 113th out of 144 countries. While the country showed a small improvement in its overall NRI score, achieving 3.3 points out of a total possible of seven, compared to 3.2 points the prior year, Nigeria placed behind a number of African countries, including Cape Verde (81st), Ghana (95th), Liberia (97th) and Gambia (98th).

What is your take on mobile broadband penetration in Africa?

Africa has demonstrated economic growth in broadband ahead of other continents. Over the past decade, six of the world's ten fastest growing economies in broadband, according to The Economist rating of December 2011, were Africans. It was estimated that that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) spending in Africa will grow a further 4.9 per cent in 2012 to reach $48.7 billion by the end of the year.

Nigeria has achieved 40.18 percent Broadband penetration, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Alli Ibrahim Pantami has said.

The Minister revealed this on Thursday, while inaugurating Broadband Implementation Steering Committee (BISC) to accelerate the attainment of 70 percent broadband penetration target by 2025 in Abuja. Pantami, who expressed satisfaction with the contribution of the sector to the nation’s GDP, described the contribution as unprecedented.

The country’s ministry of information and communication technology hopes that increased government effort will help enhance the service quality and delivery of the sector, especially over worries of poor service has surfaced.

“Nigeria is always in a tough position because we have some great ideas and companies, but too often this gets bogged down by poor service and corruption,” said Thomas Eto, a Lagos-based IT expert.

The President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi has expressed doubt about Nigeria's ability to achieve her set target of 30 per cent broadband penetration from the current 10 per cent, given the slow pace at which the country is addressing broadband penetration.

He said unless President Muhammadu Buhari's led government accelerates the implementation process of the country's broadband plan, attaining the 30 per cent broadband penetration target by 2018 will remain a mirage.

Ndukwe, who was the keynote speaker at the stakeholders' conference and exhibition on the proposed NigcomSat-1R launch earlier this week, said the absence of such a policy was hampering Nigerians' access to broadband-related services.

Such policy would also open up the sector for international investments, he noted.

The minister for science and technology, Ita Ewa, who disclosed this said as the country moves towards becoming an information society, the relaunch of a new communication satellite will ease this burden to a large extent.

Mr Ewa was speaking on Thursday in Abuja at the NIGCOMSAT's stakeholders' conference for NigComsat-1R. "Nigeria alone is spending more than $450 million annually on importation of bandwidth from Europe and America to facilitate internet access, telephony, and broadcasting for the development of the economy," he said.