LAGOS: The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah has called for the revival of the fixed line segment of the telecommunications market in order for the country to reap the potentials of broadband deployment for wealth creation and employment generation. Speaking at the just concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Juwah said that even with the growing number of submarine cable systems which has reduced cost of wholesale bandwidth capacity, the fixed line segment was very important for national penetration. He said that although statistics has shown that for every 10 percent increase in broadband there is a one percent increase in GDP, Nigeria's abysmal broadband penetration rate at 1.1 percent, was because of the neglect of the country's fixed line system. He stated: “The majority of broadband we have now is through mobile networks. We have very little practical broadband on fixed networks. We cannot make appreciable progress in broadband without first of all treating our fixed-line broadband infrastructure. Actually, the reason why mobile broadband in Nigeria is not working too well is because there is no fixed broadband infrastructure. There is no in-land fiber to backhaul all this capacity back to their various switches.” Juwah however disclosed that his commission has decided to fast-track activities in this area with the creation of a broadband-focused infrastructure sector. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/NOJsT Tags: Fixed, Infrastructure, Line, Nigeria Section: Business, Latest News, Tech, West Africa
