Information and Communications Technology stakeholders have reemphasized need to bridge the digital divide between the connected and unconnected in our society.

They made this call at the 2019 Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) held at oriental hotel, Lagos.

The event themed: ‘Connecting The Unconnected’ was organized by ICT watch magazine.

Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) speaking at the event said that connecting the unconnected will be a mirage if we do not make conscious efforts to provide adequate infrastructure to reach the last mile.

Engr. Adebayo represented by MR.Gbalaho Awonuga, Executive Secretary, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) stated that there must be adequate infrastructure in place before we can connect the unconnected.

He noted that we can never get to the unconnected at the rural area without adequate provision of infrastructure that will ensure that they are connected.

He also called on government to address the issue of multiple taxation in sector, noting that it’s the bane in connecting the people in the rural area.

He revealed also that as an association, they are embarking on coursed based studies so as to harmonize these issues.

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer,
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that they are committed to Connecting the unconnected through its broad based initiatives.

Represented by Engr. Babagana Gigima, Head, Special duty department, NCC added that providing connectivity to the unconnected, who are usually classified as un-served or under-served, comes with its own set of challenges especially in developing countries like ours where other complementary infrastructure such as power, transmission and transport are non-existing or inadequate.

Prof Danbatta noted with regrets the challenges faced by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) even inside city centers where they are forced to deploy two (2) power generating sets per Base Transceiver Station (BTS) to complement the erratic public power supply systems.

He explained that the commission has been fulfilling its obligation to ensure that unconnected areas are connected through the provision of services to un-served and under-served areas.

He added that their access gap study has identified 198 clusters of un-served areas, which translates to about 40 million unconnected Nigerians, stressing that with such population yet un-tapped, there is, therefore a business imperative to exploit this vast resource.

The EVC stated that they are committed to subsidizing the deployment of 318 BTSs in various un-served and under-served locations through the USPF funding.

He added that the licensing of the six (6) Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) will help to lower the cost of entry of MNOs and other service providers and ensure provision of at least one (1) fibre Point of Access (PoA) in every local government headquarters of the Federation.

Danbatta said, “The InfraCo deployment, when successfully completed within the next four years will provide an unprecedented capacity of 10Gbit/s in each LGA headquarters and 28,902 km of fibre in the six (6) geo-political zones (excluding North-Central which is yet to be licensed).

“The InfraCo project will not only accomplish the provision of ubiquitous broadband across the country but will also contribute to this Administration’s vision of providing 120,000 km fibre coverage as outlined by Mr. President in his “Next Level” agenda speech.

“The InfraCo initiative will also leapfrog the present 33% broadband penetration to a level exceeding the target set under the Nigerian National Broadband Plan of which the NCC is identified as one of the key drivers.

“Therefore, the InfraCo will be a game changer akin to the licensing of the GSM spectrum by the NCC which has seen an increase of voice connectivity from a meagre 400,000 households in 2001 to over 174 million subscribers today, coupled with a dramatic cost reduction to subscribers and increased turnover and profit to the service providers.”

Rotimi Akeredolu, (SAN) Governor, Ondo state, delivering his keynote address said that there’s serious need to bridge the gap between the connected and the unconnected.

Governor Akeredolu, represented Mr. Olumbe Akinkugbe called on stakeholders at the three tiers of government, IT giants, telecommunication industries and so on, to the gap between the rural communities and the Cities.

According to him,”The gap between the rural communities and the Cities is very wide. There is a serious need to bridge this gap and this should be a major concern of all stakeholders, i.e. the government at the three tiers of government, IT giants, telecommunication industries and so on.

“In the cities connectivity may not be a serious problem, although the speed of connections can be unreliable in some places but the rural communities are grossly affected when it comes to connectivity and access to the information superhighway.

He noted that in Ondo State, they are making serious efforts to ensure that government processes are ICT driven.

He added that presently all the MDAs in Ondo State are connected using Fibre Optics and radio connections, noting that high Speed Broadband lnternet connectivity across all the organs of government has been put in place.

He explained that they have collaborated with reputable organisations to deploy ICT to the grass root.

According to him, “Recently Ondo State Government collaborated with America Tower Corporation (ATC) to establish the Digital Villages project.

“This is aimed at bringing technology to the rural dwellers across the state. It is targeted at school leavers and the unemployed graduates.

“Many youths have been trained on emerging technologies and other various IT skills. Rural to urban migration has been reduced greatly.
“The state is supporting various Telecommunication Industries to obtain ‘Right of Ways’ with ease and at a very low cost, thereby creating an enabling environment for Telecoms to expand coverage across the state even to the rural communities of the state.”

Dr.Isa Alli Ibrahim Pantami, Director general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said that connecting the unconnected to the digital spectrum will leapfrog our ICT ecosystem and the Nigerian economy at large.

Presented by Dr Falilat Jimoh from office of Nigerian Content in ICT and Technical Assistant to NITDA DG said that digital transformation provides developing economies new opportunities to improve industrial age infrastructure, to draw on the vast knowledge spill-overs from the internet, to take advantage of new markets offered by digital platforms and to exploit production possibilities enabled by digital technologies.

He noted that there is need to improve our digital infrastructure to be able to harness the full potential of a smart digital economy.

Pantami said that “internet has become one of the most significant technologies with a tremendous impact on social and industrial environments.

“It completely changed the understanding of gathering informational resources, exchange of data or the ways of communication.

“Infrastructure such as Internet should no longer be seen as a luxury, but a necessity for developing a smart digital economy.

“We live in an exciting era, where technological progress moves at the speed of imagination.

“Technology has become a powerful catalyst for change, bringing people closer, making our society more efficient, and promoting a more sustainable world.

“We are emerging into a future where the digital and physical worlds will become more integrated, and boundaries no longer exist between technologies and human domain of cognitive control.

“The spread of information and communication technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies,” he added.