Nigeria’s innovative telecommunications company, Etisalat,
has posited that great economies of scale can be achieved through
standardization in the industry and this can be obtained when there is
cooperation across stakeholders. The company’s Director of Regulatory and
Government Affairs, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko made this assertion at the 11th Annual
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) Forum held at Transcorp
Hilton in Abuja last week.
The Forum with the theme, ‘Innovation Through Broadband’, was
organized by the CTO in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of
Communication Technology and co-sponsored by Etisalat. The one-week forum
served as a hub of communication technology experts from Nigeria, other commonwealth
African nations as well as their international counterparts who deliberated on
critical issues bordering on the deployment of a broadband strategy and policy
for Nigeria.
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(L-R): Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Etisalat
Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko; Director, Policy
and Competition in charge of International Affairs of the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), Lolia Emakpore; and the Honorable Minister of
Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson at the 11th Annual Commonwealth
Telecommunications Organization (CTO) Forum sponsored by Etisalat, held at
Transcorp Hilton in Abuja....recently.
During the panel discussion which was facilitated by Dikko,
it was established that broadband is indeed a game changer, hence its policy
should be implemented in every country. Knowledge-share, as an enabler for
broadband deployment, was also acknowledged as a key tool to drive the
implementation of laws and regulation in each Commonwealth country.
Speaking further, Dikko highlighted the need for partnerships
which will drive new laws and regulations regionally that will spur overall
development. “Partnerships within the industry can be more effective if
operators place customers at the fore of these discussions and strive to
influence regulations or policies that will increase broadband availability and
accessibility,” he said. In addition, he said, the CTO along with the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) can help the industry by setting
the right kind of standards.
He disclosed that Etisalat has always focused on
customer-centricity to endear itself to its subscribers in Nigeria. “The level
of growth we have experienced at Etisalat is traceable to our customer-centric
and innovative approach to business,” he said.
Minister for Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson
in her speech, said that global internet penetration rates have continued to
increase, with almost 40% of the world’s population now online. She noted,
however, that this number is fewer in developing countries than in more
industrialized ones. She expressed the Federal Government’s delight to have
hosted this year’s CTO Forum and Council meeting as one of the priorities of
the forum was to assess the different stages of broadband development and
discover best practice strategies for moving forward.
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