The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is in the process of issuing last-mile satellite operators license for broadband connectivity as part of the Commission’s effort at deepening broadband access that will ultimately, drive the digital economy quest of the federal government.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta disclosed this last week in a presentation during the Sectoral Virtual Forum on the need of Telecoms and ICT Consumers in the era of COVID-19 and Post COVID-19, which was organized by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
“As part of spectrum utilization, we are in the process of issuing last-mile satellite operators license to provide broadband services in Nigeria,” he said.
Meanwhile, as a way of addressing the challenge of under-utilization of submarine broadband landing capacity, Prof. Danbatta said the NCC licensed two Infrastructure Companies (Infracos) in 2015 but one of them declined the license.
He also highlighted that in 2018, the Commission licensed an additional five Infracos, while there is an on-going counterpart funding agreement for the six Infracos since 2019.
“Six Infracos agreement processes are ongoing, while the Commission is also reviewing the Infracos framework as mandated by the National Broadband Plan 2020-2025,” he added.