Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it has begun plans to see how Nigerians can get cheaper data Internet connection rates across the country.
This was made known by the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, during an ICT innovation forum, themed Developing Nigeria’s Tech Eco-System, Imperative for Improving Local Content’ in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday.
The commission further revealed that it had licensed and supported infrastructure development companies in deploying fibre optic cables across the country to enable data-based start-ups in harnessing and achieving their objectives.
The Vice Chairman, who was represented by the Commission’s Secretary, Mr Felix Adeoye, said that it was in support of the Federal Government in curtailing hate speech in the cyberspace and ensuring that data were utilised positively by Nigerians.
“Within the next few years you are going to see availability of massive data all over the country. We have licensed a number of infrastructure companies to deploy fibres all over the country and they have begun operations.”
Last month, the commission revealed that it had licensed 20 new Internet Service Providers (ISPs) between January and October this year bringing the figure to 120 ISPs in the country.
However, complaints by subscribers have always revolved around the massive cost of Internet data. It is believed that with the presence of this new services, competition will drive data costs lower.
