The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), will support law-abiding investors who respond positively to Nigeria’s desire for investments that promote the agenda of government to achieve a robust digital economy.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, made the promise recently when he received a visiting delegation of Meta, (formerly Facebook), led by the company’s Vice President for Africa, the Middle-East and Turkey, Kojo Boakye, at the NCC’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to Maida, the regulatory support to all investors, including operators in Nigeria, will be predicated on their playing by the rules and regulations guiding the sector.
He said the Commission places high premium on compliance to industry laws, regulations and guidelines as such will also engender a level-playing field for all licensees and other stakeholders in the industry.
He added that this will help sustaining a healthy competition and guarantee a sustainable growth in the Nigerian telecoms sector.
Boakye informed NCC boss that the purpose of the visit was to congratulate him on his appointment by the President and to intimate him of ongoing efforts to land 2Africa Cable in Nigeria.
Boakye said the 2Africa submarine cable, at 45,000 kilometres long, will be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects and will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), Asia (via Saudi Arabia), and Africa.
He disclosed that the system will go live in 2023, delivering more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables currently serving Africa, with a design capacity of up to 180 terabytes per second (Tbps).
Boakye added that 2Africa will deliver much-needed Internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa, supplement the fast-growing capacity demand in the Middle East and underpin further growth of 4G, 5G and fixed broadband access for billions of people, especially in Nigeria.
He solicited NCC’s support in sailing through all necessary legal and regulatory hurdles in landing the submarine cable to complement existing backbone infrastructure in Nigeria.
According to him, Meta, through a consortium, plans to land 2Africa cable simultaneously in Lagos and Akwa-Ibom States “in order to ensure that those not yet connected are connected while those already connected are given opportunity for enhanced and affordable access.”
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