Two years of implementing the Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2020-2025) has yielded a 5.24 per cent increase in broadband penetration, bringing the country’s total broadband penetration to 45.09 per cent as of September.
This is according to the latest data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria’s telecom’s industry apex regulator.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari launched the second Nigeria National Broadband Plan in March 2020 with a target of achieving 70 per cent penetration by 2025.
At that time, the penetration level stood at 39.85 per cent as there were 76 million fast-speed internet connections.
Shortly after the plan was launched, the COVID-19 outbreak stalled implementation. However, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Pantami has explained that implementation efforts between 2021 and September 2022 helped to increase the number of connections to 86 million, representing 45.09 per cent of the target.
At the current rate, Nigeria will need to increase broadband penetration by 25 per cent in the next three years to achieve its 70 per cent target.
According to the plan, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy is expected to have implemented the National Standardized Right of Way (RoW) fees of N145 per linear meter by the third quarter of 2020.
All state governors should have keyed into this to enable telecom operators to roll out fiber across Nigeria unimpeded. However, as of November 2022, only seven states have accepted and implemented the harmonized RoW fee.
