NCC Moves to Reduce Data Price to N390 Per Gigabyte

Reiterating its commitment to improving customers’ experience as well as create good ecosystem for telecoms industry in Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed plans to reduce the price of data to N390 per Gigabyte.

Speaking at an interactive session with senior media chiefs from mainstream and online media community hosted by the commission held in Abuja, Danbatta said the commission ongoing efforts towards deepening broadband penetration would make this possible.

Reeling out NCC’s regulatory priority areas for the next five years to include facilitating attainment of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025, Danbatta stated the reduction in the cost of data will facilitated by this development.

“This will also bring about a reduction in price of data from N1000, per gigabyte of data to around N390 with broadband penetration target of 70 per cent to cover 90 per cent of the population within the next five years as contained in the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025),” the EVC said.

He also pointed out that the licensing of six Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to deploy fibre infrastructure across the six-geo political zones will also help to galvanise increased connectivity.

Addressing the forum, Danbatta, who was recently reappointed for another five years in office following the expiration of his first term in August 2015, eloquently enunciated his major policy initiatives that have produced record broadband penetration and enhanced the growth in the telecoms sector, especially in the contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

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Other areas of focus, according to him, will include continuous SIM registration audit to provide security and curtail incidences of banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery; consumer protection and empowerment; and consolidation of spectrum trading to ensure maximum and efficient usage of available frequencies.

Creation of Emergency Communications Centres (ECCs) in more states of the federation; and execution of the counterpart funding agreements with the licensed Infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to facilitate digital transformation of the economy are also added to the five years plan.

The EVC also added that NCC is working on last-mile connectivity to different parts of the country through leveraging the 40 terabyte capacity of five submarine cables on the coastal shores of Nigeria.