Stakeholders Harp on Telecoms Infrastructure Development

Industry stakeholders who participated in the second edition of the West Africa Telecoms Infrastructure Summit and Exhibtion (WATISE), have stressed the need for telecoms infrastructure development, while looking at critical issues affecting the survival of global telecoms industry, using the Nigerian market as a reference point.

Organised by TechnologyMirror, the forum has the theme: “Shaping the Future of Telecoms Infrastructure: Trends and Insights for a Digital Economy.”

Leading the conversation, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, who was represented by the Head of Next Generation Technology and Standard at the NCC, Victor Adoga, described telecommunications infrastructure as the backbone of the digital economy, facilitating seamless connectivity and supporting a range of services from basic voice calls to high-speed internet and cloud computing.

According to him, the rapid growth of the digital economy demands robust, scalable, and secure telecommunications infrastructure, disclosing that there are several key trends that are poised to shape the future of telecoms infrastructure.

Chief Executive Officer of WTES Projects Limited, Mr. Chidi Ajuzie who joined virtually from Ethiopia said there had been deluge of connectivity from submarine cable landings linking Nigeria to Europe and rest of the world.

According to him, while there is no centrally managed national transmission backbone, licensed operators have over the years, built transmission networks to meet their own needs, often duplicated on most routes.

He disclosed that the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) has carried out a detailed study to characterize basic telephony and ICT gaps in the country, identifying 97 clusters with varying population densities and a cumulative population of about 27.91 million that suffer from significant connectivity services gaps.

During a fireside chat, Head Network and Solutions, Information and Communications Services Limited (ICSL), Tinuade Oguntuyi, said rural areas needed better network services for proper communication and development.

Oguntuyi, who anchored the fireside chat, said the government must support network service providers to reach more rural places as they are also full of great potentials for the growth of the nation.