Presidential committee proposes Broadband Council

NIGERIA is to establish a Broadband Council to see to the implementation of the five years national broadband plan, says the co-chairman of the Presidential Committee for a National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap from 2013 to 2018, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe.

DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that on September 20, 2012, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, inaugurated the Presidential Committee for a national broadband strategy and roadmap, was chaired by two esteemed men in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Telecoms sector, Dr Ernest Ndukwe, and Mr. Jim Ovia supported by a cast of 15 core members representing various stakeholder groups in the sector, and an additional set of co-opted members.

Speaking at the submission of the committee’s final report to the president, Ndukwe also said that the Minister of Communication Technology has been advised in the Executive Summary of the committee to establish a Broadband Council to provide period evaluation of progress, facilitate coordination and collaboration and highlight areas of programme adjustment to permit the realization of the new and emerging opportunities.

Ndukwe, who is the chairman of Open Media Communications Group also said the  Council shall be the forum for relevant agencies to discuss and fine-tune implementation strategies, assign responsibility for joint duties, share best practices and coordinate broadband funding so that government’s spending on broadband has maximum economies of scale and maximum impact.

The committee also stated that for Nigeria to become one of the world’s leading economies by year 2020, high-speed broadband networks that will provide every Nigerian with fast, reliable and affordable internet access is a fundamental requirement.

Broadband, the committee noted, has been variously described as a transformative technology that levels the playing field and gives businesses access to regional, national, and international markets irrespective of geographical location.

According to the Committee, the huge success of digital mobile services is a great platform upon which to build a national broadband strategy and to improve access to infrastructure, they pointed out that the private sector is agreed that it must open up access to existing infrastructure including transmission networks and fibre ducts to enable more rapid cross country delivery of services.

Remmy Nweke/DigitalSENSE Business News
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