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Nigeria records significant growth in ICT: official

Xinhua, September 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nigeria's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector had recorded significant growth, as it moved from below 500,000 active lines in the past years to the current 157 million, an official said Monday.

The country's teledensity stands at 107 percent, having surpassed the 100-percent threshold, while internet connectivity has risen to 97 percent, Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in Lagos.

Speaking at a stakeholders' forum for International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2016, the official said over 35 billion U.S. dollars had been invested in the nation's telecommunications industry from Foreign Direct Investments.

Danbatta said the sector has also seen billions of dollars in terms of local investments in the past 15 years.

"Our story of successes is very long but we, as regulators, are not resting on our oars," he added.

Danbatta said there was the need to tell the world of the revolution brewing in the area of broadband.

According to him, Nigeria's broadband penetration was currently at 14 percent and the nation has over 100-percent thirst for the internet.

He told his audience that the industry is convinced that, by 2018, the anticipated 30-percent broadband penetration will not be impossible to achieve.

He said Bitflux Consortium, the winner of the 2.3 Gigahertz spectrum, had rolled out services toward achieving the broadband penetration target. Endit