Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta blasted the trumpet of the NCC during his time leading the organisation at the Nigerian Institute of information and Communications Engineers (NIICTE) conference.
In his address, he noted achievements of the commission including the creation of the department of Digital Economy which now oversees the mandate of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020 – 2030 and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025; the licensing of INFRACO companies to deploy open fibre on an Open Access basis in Six Geopolitical Zones; and the Federal Executive Council approval of the Nigerian 5G policy.
He also said that the NCC executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Communications Satellite that freed up the 3.4 – 3.9 GHz Spectrum for 5G. It set up and expanded the Internet Exchange Point capacity of 930 megabytes per second (MB/s) for the Abuja to Lagos route, 620 MB/s for the Abuja to Kano route, 310 MB/s for the Lagos to Port Harcourt route.
Other achievements listed were:
“Landed total Offshore Broadband Capacity of 50.74 TB comprising 40TB
Submarine and 10.74TB of Satellite; followed up on the global industry trends on the 5G Spectrums such as the 26GHz, 38GHz and 42GHz bands harmonized in WRC-19; updated the National Frequency Allocation Table (NFAT) to reflect the outcome of the WRC-19; openned up of the 60GHz V-band; opened up of the 70/80GHz E-band for both point to point and point to multi-points deployments; developed and deployed Spectrum Trading Guidelines; enforcing of the “use it, Trade it or loose it” Policy on un-utilized Access Spectrum; developed Regulatory Guidelines on TV whitespace (TVWS) for the deployment of broadband services in the country; procured state of the art Monitoring equipment to mitigate interference issues to ensure quality of service; created Space unit for the regularization of activities of all Satellite operators (including Space station operators as well as Earth station operators; issued Landing permits to Space stations beaming their signals over the Nigerian territory for the provision of broadband services in mostly rural areas; opened up Emergency Communication Centers (ECC) across the Country to enhance security and safety of the Nation.
Danbatta ended by saying that the NCC and NIICTE shared a common interest and as a result should work together in building the country’s digital economy.
“As an ICT specialized Institute, we must have a lot of common interest, I, therefore, invite you to join hands with us, participate and contribute your quota to the development of the Nigerian Digital Economy,” he said.