Broadband penetration has become a significant issue trailing the ICT ecosystem with the country covering only 38,000 kilometers of metropolitan fibre networks.
However, Nigeria will need more than 120,000 kilometers of metropolitan fibre networks interconnected across the country to achieve its goal of inescapable broadband penetration, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
“Only 38,000 kilometers have been covered so far,” Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, said this in a statement recently in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.
The EVC raised the issue of Right of Way charges as one of the impediments affecting broadband penetration, however, called on the federal government to ensure that all the 36 state governments of the federation adhere to the resolution of the National Economic Council on the Right of Way charges.
The charge according to him stipulates N145 per meter for laying fibre network in every part of the country.
“The Right of Way issue is something that refuses to go away despite the existence of a document guiding what should be charged. Presently, nobody is complying with the provision of that document.
“We cannot compel the state governments to charge N145 per meter for fibre.
“The federal government can, however, meet with the governors and extract a commitment from them to ensure that NEC’s provision is strictly adhered to,” he said.
