Nigeria’s Broadband Coverage Nears 42% In 8 Months – DG NITDA

The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, has said that Nigeria’s broadband coverage has almost reached 42 percent within 8 months.

Abdullahi  said the growth rate was driven by the efforts of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami.

He said this on Thursday at a Sectoral Virtual Forum with the theme,  “Meeting the Interests of Government, Consumers and Telecom and ICT Companies in the Era of COVID-19 Post COVID-19 Pandemic for Digital Economy Development.”

The meeting was organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

According to him,  within the period, the ministry has been able to grow broadband coverage by 10 percent from 32 percent recorded prior to the eight months period.

He said, “The ministry under the leadership of the honourable minister of  Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigeria., Dr. Isa Pantami, swung into action immediately. The achievement so far is unprecedented. Within eight months, broadband coverage has increased from about 32% to almost 42%. DG-NITDA.”

The NITDA boss said Nigeria was a mobile-first market when it comes to connectivity, with almost three-quarters of about 100m internet users who use digital services from their mobile phones.

He said putting that into consideration, broadband infrastructure was the most critical infrastructure the country needed  as it was recovering from  the Covid- 19 pandemic.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on March 19 this year, launched the country’s National Broadband plan.