Danbatta Lauds telcos for providing reasonable services despite Covid-19 congestion

Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), lauded the telecom service providers in Nigeria for their resilience in providing reasonable services, despite the congestion posed by Covid-19.

Danbatta gave the commendation yesterday during a high-powered virtual meeting on the socio-economic and political impact of Covid-19 on the telecom and ICT sector in Nigeria, which was organized by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

According to him, though the congestion in the telecoms network exposes the inadequacy of infrastructure in the sector, the telecoms service providers must be commended because, in the face of this challenge, they have at least provided services of reasonable quality.

“While we look for ways to address the infrastructure deficit in this country, we really hope and pray that the telecoms service providers will continue to withstand the pressure on their networks and give Nigerians quality services,” he said at the virtual meeting attended by all the notable stakeholders in the industry from public and private sector.

Speaking on the best ways to address the challenge of lack of infrastructure in Nigeria, the former University Lecturer disclosed that the quickest way is to roll out more infrastructure through the InfraCos.

He assured that everything is ready for the kickoff of the infrastructure projects in the various zones, but waiting for the federal government to provide the exact time that these projects will kick-off.

“The Government is studying the situations very well. At the same time, the government is convinced in putting in place those measures that will drive the deployment of infrastructure that we are hoping to see,” he said.

Some infrastructure companies have been licensed to deploy infrastructure across the country. They Raeana Nigeria Limited (South-South Zone);O’dua Infraco Resources Limited (South-West Zone) and Fleek Networks Limited (North-West Zone).

Others are Brinks Integrated Solutions (North-East Zone); MainOne Limited (Lagos Zone) and Zinox Technologies Limited (South-East Zone)