The
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured that the contributions
from the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector would boost Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the country by 15 per cent in 2015.
Executive Vice President of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, who
gave the prediction at the just- concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona,
Spain, said ICT contribution to the country's GDP "should jump from the
current 5.6 per cent to between 13 and 15 per cent by 2015."
Juwah based his prediction on government's structured
investment and regulatory intervention, while speaking at the 'Broader Way 2013
Forum - Make it Possible', organised by equipment manufacturer, Huawei, at the
congress in Barcelona.
Speaking among a panel of experts from industry and
administrations, Juwah traced phenomenal developments in the country's
communications industry and submitted that current programmes and strategies
would put Nigeria on a faster lane in broadband deployment and development.
While expressing regret over the dearth of infrastructure
in the sector which affected projections and growth when compared with the
country's huge population, and resulting in only six per cent data penetration
currently, Juwah canvassed synergy between government and the private sector in
infrastructure funding and build-out in order to stimulate demand and
competition.
Addressing the licensing of the remaining slot in the
2.3GHz frequency band, Juwah said the commission has been developing a
broadband concept for the country that would encourage government to give
financial incentives to service providers that would take services to far-flung
areas, unserved and other under-served places. "Such incentives will
influence a commanding reduction in the cost of bandwidth and this expectedly,
will put bandwidth in the hands of those who need it but are yet unable to
afford it," Juwah said.
On the infrastructure side, he further advocated equal
focus on the wireless and wired technologies. He appealed to equipment
manufacturers and suppliers to come out with products that can harmonise and
encourage the two technologies.
Speaking at the congress, Secretary General of the
International Telecoms Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, commended the
transformation in the telecommunications sector that is driving changes in all
sectors and helping countries to meet millennium development goals (MDGs),
among others.
"The digital economy allows anyone, anywhere play an
active role in global issues and value chain," Toure said.
He expressed excitement about ICT growth in Africa, and
specially commended Nigeria for a good regulatory framework by the Juwah- led
team of NCC, which he said, had exploded mobile phone growth in Africa's most
populous nation.
Toure was particularly excited that Africa had been part
of the inclusive technology that has given voice to the voiceless and allowed
even the ordinary folks in rural areas to participate in global discourse and
share useful information.
He hailed manufacturers for turning the phone into some
multi-purpose devices, saying that "it is no longer a phone but
multi-purpose devices." With these devices, people are able to share
information and bounce them around the world.
The ITU Secretary General was however pained that a kind
of technology cold war seemed to be brewing between developed and developing
countries, and appealed that such war should not be allowed to happen otherwise
it would hurt growth being recorded in the sector.
Emma
Okonji
ThisDay Nigeria
ThisDay Nigeria