USPF reduces access gap by 2% in two years

ITRealms:

The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) has reduced the access gap in Nigeria by two per cent within the last two years, reports ITRealms.

Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta disclosed this at a one-day USPF ‘Focused Industry Stakeholders’ Forum and Hackathon Award at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, last weekend.

Danbatta explained that USFPF has facilitated the reduction from 36.8 million (24.5 per cent) in 2013 to 33.7 million (22.5 per cent) in 2015 based on the Access Gap study and using the 150 million population benchmark.

The event which theme this year was 'Universal Access: Eliminating the Inclusion Barriers' also saw EVC reiterating that USPF, which is an arm of the Commission, would play significant role in the facilitation of broadband penetration; improve quality of service; promote ICT innovations and investment opportunities and facilitate strategic collaboration and partnership.

Prof. Danbatta also spoke on the serious need to look at Federal and State policies that are not friendly to the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure in the country.

He lamented the current level of the ICT infrastructure in the country, saying that it has led to limited development.

The Commission, he further disclosed, plans to issue licences to Infracos to cover the five remaining geo-political zones in Nigeria namely: South West, South, South East, North East and North West.

“Already, North Central and Lagos zones have been awarded Infraco licences to IHS and Main One Cable company,” he said..

ITRealms recalls that the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established within the Nigerian Communications Commission by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served Nigeria’s communities.

Nenye Dom/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

USPF to use Access Gap study for interventions – Johnson

ITRealms:

Chairman of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and Honourable Minister of Communication Technology (CommTech) Dr. Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has asserted that importance of the recently concluded Access Gap study by the USPF, saying it would be used for adequate interventions, reports ITRealms.

Speaking at the recently relaunched website for USPF in Lagos, Mrs. Johnson told ITRealms that the new website and launch of ICT Gap clusters would boost the intervention of USPF in the country.

According to her, subsequently, the USPF will utilize these clusters to identify target areas, define Universal Access Service (UAS) and map the interventions respectively to the appropriate communities.

“We will also share the results of the study with the telecoms operators to enable them get a detailed view of the needs and demands of the market and assist them in developing roll out plans for these unreached areas,” she told ITRealms.

Johnson stressed that the nation forges ahead, the greatest wish of this administration, she told ITRealms, is to continue to collaborate with the telecom operators towards closing access gap in the country and set Nigeria on the path of being a full digitalized nation.

“We trust that we can rely on you to continue to be our trusted partners in deploying and delivering sustainable and impactful projects,” she said.

Mrs. Johnson further applauded participants at the forum, saying it’s a clear signal that as stakeholders, “we all share the same vision.”

Just as she emphasised that the results of the study, would be useful to clarify the results and how best they could be turned into projects for enhancing services to the communities.

“We hope to conclude this forum with a shared understanding about what to do and what our roles are in accomplishing what we have resolved to do such that when we leave this room all that will be left to do is to Execute! Execute!! Execute!!!” she concluded.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) @USPFNG +Efem Nkanga @NGRCOMMTech @NgComCommission +ITU 

ITREALMS ... delivering news for ICT4D
Pix: Johnson and USPF secretary, Maikano