NCC Heightens its Partnership with Strategic Stakeholders

In keeping with the spirit of its Management's Strategic Vision Plan 2015-2020 as originally enunciated in the 8-Point Agenda, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, through the Universal Service Provision Fund  (USPF) - a department of the Commission - yesterday held a Roundtable.

The meeting, organised in tandem with GSMA, aimed at strengthening the synergy between USPF and operators in the Nigerian telecommunications industry in order to achieve the objectives of the Universal Access System in Nigeria which essentially focuses on the promotion of greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria as a conscious strategy to contribute to national economic, social and cultural development of Nigeria.

The GSMA is a global association representing  some 800 mobile operators and over 300 companies "in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors".

As the organiser and facilitator of the annual GSMA Mobile World Congress which takes place in February in Barcelona, GSMA brings key players in the mobile telecommunications ecology together for updates on emerging trends and issues in the mobile industry. It is also the organiser of the Mobile 360 Series conferences.

Yesterday's event, which held at the Head Office of the NCC, and involving representatives of the Nigerian telecommunication industry reflected on strategies to deepen access to telecommunication and ICT services in Nigeria to accelerate national development.

Earlier in the year, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched a Midterm Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in which telecommunication sector is mandated to ensure availability of robust, accessible and affordable ICT services; and to achieve increased mobile broadband penetration to 50 percent by the Year 2020.