Only 12% of Nigerians Subscribe to Broadband Services

Even with the World Development Report (WDR) that reveals that digital technologies have spread rapidly in most parts of the world, there are still many countries of the world lagging behind in the dividends this spread was supposed to accrue. A renowned IT expert, Dhanaraj Thurkur, disclosed that only about 12 per cent of Nigerians have access to broadband service, even when average Nigerian spends 70-80 per cent of his monthly income to gain access to broadband services with an average earning of $3,000 per year due to the high cost of broadband service in the country. 

 

The report stated that in many instances, if not that the digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities and improved service delivery, their aggregate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed among the people. To get the most out of the digital revolution, the study suggested that countries must work on the analog complements, by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that institutions are accountable. The Nigerian Coordinator, Alliance For Affordable Internet (A4AI), Eng. Ernest Ndukwe in his remarks also at the occasion canvassed for increased education of broadband, especially among the leaders. Nukwe, who is also former Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission said government must begin to think on the idea of giving subsidy and some measure of waiver to operators and investors in the nation’s telecom sector before the country could achieve inclusion in broadband access.   

The report noted that the digital technologies such as the internet, mobile phones and all the other tools for collecting, storing, analyzing, and information sharing have the potential to promote inclusion, efficiency and innovation in every economy via heir rapid spread. According to the report, more households in developing countries own a mobile phone than have access to electricity and clean water. Among those in the bottom fifth of the economic scale, it showed that about 70 per cent own a mobile. On internet usage, the study revealed that the number of internet users tripled in just a decade to an estimated 3.2 billion at the end of 2015. This according to the report, has brought immediate private benefits; easier communication; more information source, and new forms of leisure.