By Martin Ekpeke
The Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission, Mr. Tony Ojobo has stated that data availability in Nigeria or any nation is significant, as a robust broadband is a key resource for the building of a digital economy.
Ojobo stated this in a keynote address last week at the DIGITAL PayEXPO Conference tagged DATA FIESTA in Lagos.
According to him, the visible successes recorded by online merchants such as Jumia and Yudala are evidence of the role the availability of data can play in any country. He believes that Nigeria is presently experiencing a huge online banking transactions that have reduced physical traffic to the banking halls.
“The amazing innovations and creativity bolstered by access to data and the Internet are proof of what is possible with good broadband and also speaks to greater opportunities in the future which are already seen in many start-ups businesses,” he said.
He disclosed that NCC is opening up new and additional spectrum bands to strengthen the ever growing data needs in the country. He recalled the auction of frequencies in the 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, the re-planning of the 800MHz for LTE services, the re-farming of older frequencies held by operators in the sector – all of which are earmarked for data – as concrete steps taken by the NCC to ensure availability of data. He added that there is a measurable derivable benefits for the data segment in the NCC’s technology neutrality stance.
The NCC Director of Public Affairs noted that these are proofs of NCC’s mindfulness of the centrality of data for economic growth and development.