Broadband is next phase of telecoms revolution
Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC. Dr. Eugene Juwah has said that broadband is the next phase of telecommunication revolution, which every nation that aspires to succeed must embrace.He said as a result of this imperative, NCC has made progress in the nation’s telecom sector to improve on broadband infrastructure.
Dr Juwah made this assertion at a five-day youth software training programme powered by the Jim Ovia Foundation, tagged “Developing Nigeria’s Next Generation of ICT Entrepreneurs” which held at the Civic Centre, Lagos, last week.
Broadband progress
“NCC has made significant progress to improve on broadband in Nigeria because we hope to be part of this global movement,” he stated.
Speaking to the youths attending the programme, Juwah described the internet as a two-edged sword, adding it has both good and bad sides, and that one of the aims of the programme was to address the good side of it. To maximize potentials of future generation, Juwah said knowledge remains a key factor to make it happen, which must be pursued with all seriousness and sense of purpose.
He urged the youths to take the good side of the internet, which he said will take them to the heights of their potential that will not only bring them pride but also ad value to the society.
“With the skills you acquired in this programme, can be used as a stepping stone to advance in knowledge, maximize your ICT potentials and certifications. That why NCC will continue to support in this digital awareness and advance digital awareness for higher institutions,” said the EVC.
Dr Eugene Juwah, EVC, NCC
During an interactive session at the end the lecture, Dr Juwah also disclosed to newsmen that the commission will before end of this week issue licenses to operators to implement the proposed number portability services in Nigeria.
The action according to him, is in fulfilment of the commission’s promise to offer Nigerians the choice of switching from one network to another based on the quality of service rendered.
It will be recalled that the commission last year announced a consortium of Interconnect/Saab Grintek/Telcordia as the preferred vendor for the service after the technical, financial and demo presentations by the bidding vendors.
Number portability will allow subscribers move to alternate networks when they are no longer enjoying the quality of services being obtained from their current operators or when they are no longer happy with the tariffs offered by their current subscribers. They will still retain their original numbers irrespective of the new network from which they may be obtaining their services.
The EVC said that the operating companies to be licensed will be expected to set up and implement number portability clearing house and provide mobile number portability solutions administration in the country within six months of receiving the license with a testing period of two months, before embarking on full operation in the ninth month.
Further, the EVC vowed to bar unregistered SIM cards from the country’s mobile networks 30 days after the ongoing data harmonization process ends, which is expected to end this week.
Though a lot of Nigerians have registered their SIM cards, Juwah said unregistered subscribers will be barred from making calls until they have registered their SIM cards.
The NCC boss hinted that the data collected during the six-month SIM registration exercise was being uploaded onto NCC’s back up servers in Abuja, saying this was taking time due to the volume of the data.
