Admin l Tuesday, April 28, 2020
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has approved a new broadband plan for Nigeria. The new broadband plan will deliver minimum data speed of 25Mbps in urban areas and 10Mbps in rural areas at N390 per IGB of data, the Nigerian Communications Commission has announced.
Currently, internet speed in Nigeria is about 3.9 megabits per second. This is part of inputs in the 5 year Nigerian National Broadband Plan approved for implementation between 2020 – 2025.
The National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy was developed in line with the mandate of the Honourable Minister of Communications & Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. This policy was unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2019.
“The new Broadband Plan is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria of a minimum 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90% of the population by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data (i.e. 2% of median income or 1% of minimum wage)”, the plan stated.
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In the new policy, the National Frequency Management Council(NFMC) is directed to mandate the Nationall Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to clear all broadcasting stations from the700MHz and 2.6GHz bands.
Government will however release the required funds in order to vacate licensees that are currently on the700MHz and 2.6GHz frequency bands for
the deployment of telecom infrastructure in the first quarter of 2021.Already there is ongoing consultation between the NBC and the broadcasting stations.
