The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, has said the number of uptakes in different types of telecommunications services in Nigeria has continued to rise in spite of lockdowns and restrictions occasioned by the pandemic.
According to him figures of the last eight months show increases in subscriber level from 184 million in December 2019 to 199.3 million in May 2020. Internet subscriptions in the same period has grown from 126 Million subscribers to 147.1 million, while broadband subscription has improved from 72 Million to 80.2 million, achieving a 42.02% penetration in the country.
Danbatta who spoke at the occasion of the presentation of grants to winners of digital solutions to Covid 19, said the increase may have given impetus to the possibility of holding virtual meetings and conferences on video technologies that are now providing social distancing solutions.
Three winning adaptable digital solutions from Startups or Digital SME’s who participated in the competition, aimed at producing homegrown solutions to the global pandemic for local, national or global adoption were unveil at the virtual ceremony.
They are the ones who provided novel ideas or solution to address the needs of health workers and other frontline health professionals including individuals in isolation centres, or provide help for relevant agencies involved in tracking and tracing the spread of the virus as well as support or facilitation of other preventive measures. Each of the Startups, or tech-hubs with promising innovative digital solutions against the pandemic will receive a grant of N3 million.
Danbatta said the vision to evolve a digital solution to the current Covid-19 pandemic which has continued to terrorize the entire humanity came from the minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami. whose ideas and vision, spurred “us to engage in what has become a celebration of some sort today.”.
Danbatta said: “It is evident that the entire globe is challenged about how best to tackle this pandemic. Telecommunications/ICTs have taken the centre stage in the provision, or advancement of solutions.
“In the quest of the International Finance Corporation, IFC, to appraise the impact or role that telecommunications and ICTs plays in addressing this COVID-19 pandemic, IFC noted that more than any other event in human history, the critical importance that telecommunications infrastructure plays in keeping businesses, governments, and societies connected and running as the economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic have made people across the globe to rely on technology for information, for social distancing, and working from home”.
He said the Hackathon is expected to throw up innovative and adaptable solutions that will address the present and future impacts of Pandemics and Epidemic diseases in Nigeria focusing on five thematic areas namely health, community, productivity, economy and education.
