NCC Reveals Measures It Is Using To Facilitate Growth Of E-Government In Nigeria

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, gave a highlight of these measures in a presentation delivered during the Nigeria e-Government Summit 2021 recently held in Lagos state.

The presentation titled, "e-Government: Opportunities and ChallengesÔÇØ, focused on how government agencies and parastatals can take advantage of advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve service delivery to Nigerians.

Danbatta who was represented by the Commission's Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, Danbatta noted that the NCC has been working tirelessly with all stakeholders to deepen penetration of broadband infrastructure and services which support the growth of e-Governance and other critical digital economy objectives throughout Nigeria.

According to the EVC, the NCC recently unveiled its second Strategic Vision Plan (SVP)- 2021-2025, which enables it to effectively align with efforts of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030; the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025, and other digital economy polices and global best practices.

"Leveraging on the successes we achieved under our previous SVP, we are repositioning both the Commission and the entire industry to facilitate the availability of solid infrastructure and to proliferate digital platforms that effectively and efficiently enable digital inclusion throughout Nigeria,ÔÇØ he said.

Danbatta, noted that the Commission has developed a 5G Deployment Plan for Nigeria's digital economy which is geared towards ensuring accessibility to efficient and affordable network infrastructure to power e-Government and other digital economy initiatives in the country, following Presidents Muhammadu Buhari's approval of the Fifth Generation (5G) Policy .

He also said that the Commission has set up a committee to auction the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) band for 5G deployment in Nigeria, and the details will be announced in due course, adding that the regulator is currently updating the National Frequency Allocation Table (NFAT) to achieve more efficient spectrum allocation and usage to reflect World radio communications Conference (WRC)-19 recommendations.

Also, the update of the spectrum allocation table is among several other initiatives being implemented by NCC to ensure efficient use of spectrum resource in the country.