TheCable

Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), says the country now ranks 11th on internet penetration and seventh in terms of mobile phone usage globally.

Danbatta spoke at the opening ceremony of the emerging technology forum for the telecommunications industry in Abuja on Thursday.

The two-day forum was themed, ‘Contextualising the Network Readiness Index (NRI) for the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry’.

The NCC boss was represented by Abraham Oshadami, the commission’s head of spectrum database management.

He said global data collected by the NRI team revealed that digital transformation was imperative in order to maximise the social and economic effects of the digital era.

Danbatta said the NRI explored the performances of 131 economies in four categories, which include: technology (infrastructure), governance, people, and impact.

“Nigeria is a telecommunications powerhouse, with 82 percent of the continent’s telecom subscribers and 29 percent of the continent’s internet consumption,” he said.

“Our nation ranks 11th globally in terms of internet penetration and seventh in terms of mobile phone usage.

“Despite these remarkable metrics, the fact that our NRI ranking for 2022 is 109th out of 131 countries is both humbling and challenging.” 

Danbatta said as agents of social and economic transformation in the nation, prioritising network readiness was not only a strategic necessity but a mandate.

He said the NRI is a guiding metric that measures the role and impact of information and communication technology (ICT).

To navigate this era of transformation, the EVC said stakeholders must embrace innovation, make strategic investments, and cultivate a growth-friendly ecosystem.

He urged stakeholders to grasp the opportunity to investigate emerging technologies, envisage their potential applications, and determine how they can be leveraged to solve specific challenges.

“This platform is our gateway to innovative and disruptive solutions that can positively transform our industry,” Danbatta said.

“By engaging in conversations about new technologies, collaborating with global best practices and subject-matter experts, and pooling our insights, we open the door to unimaginable future possibilities.”

On his part, Chidi Diugwu, head of new media and information security at NCC, urged the stakeholders to embrace insights offered by NRI to guide policies, investments and collaborations.

Diugwu said this would enable the nation to harness the potential of emerging technologies, unlock new opportunities, bridge the digital divide, and create a prosperous and inclusive digital future for Nigeria.