Lawmakers in Nigeria have expressed concerns over some parts of the country not having access to mobile telecommunications services, as it begins probe.
The speaker of the House of Representatives Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila during the first public hearing on the topic held by the House Ad Hoc Committee said that the house is probing to know why the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) failed to encourage wider availability and utilization of mobile cellular services nationwide.
He added that most rural communities in Nigeria lack access to telecommunications services, while noting that it is not only people who are residing in urban areas that have the right to enjoy telecommunications services.
In his words,
“It is critical to note that it is not only people residing in urban areas that have the right to
telecommunications, consideration should be extended to rural dwellers. The NCC, as the regulator, needs to ensure proactiveness in ensuring qualitative and efficient services are offered by the telecommunication operators.
“And each part of the country enjoys access to telecommunications, which is a necessity in today’s world, to be at par with developed nations. This has become necessary because mobile telecommunications has grown to become vital to Nigeria’s economic development, as it provides the infrastructural backbone for the digital economy that drives development”.
Hon. Gbajabiamila further urged the Nigerian Communications Commission and other players in the sector to live up to expectations, by ensuring that the rural communities in the country do not lack access to telecom services.
Investors King understands that Nigeria’s Internet broadband penetration hit a new high of 46.24 percent in November 2022, with some 75 million of the over 200 million having access to the facility, which largely resides in the urban areas.
Even though more people are using mobile internet in rural areas, there is still a significant rural-urban divide.
It would be recalled that in 2022, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) called on the Nigerian government to create an enabling environment that includes the elaboration and deployment of incentives for investment in broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas.
The ITU said major challenges for rural and remote area connectivity include inadequate supporting infrastructure, difficult terrain, illiteracy, high cost of installation of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, and policy issues. With these challenges, rural and remote areas including those in Nigeria are often not considered viable business cases by telecommunication operators.
It further urged the government to promote investment that is, public, private, and partnership models (PPPs) to enable supply and demand creation about broadband network infrastructure deployment for rural and remote areas.