NCC plans to license last-mile satellite operators

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is in the process of issuing licences to last-mile satellite operators to provide broadband services.

NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman Umar Danbatta hinted about it at the ATCON sectoral virtual forum, saying this has become necessary to ensure ubiquitous broadband in the country.

At the ATCON forum, Danbatta had revealed that the NCC provided licenses for commercial satellite space segment in 2019 with 55 operators empowered with landing permit.

The June subscriber statistics from the NCC showed over 70m broadband subscribers in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the commission also hosted the second quarter meeting of Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) in August, the first virtual meeting of the Forum.

At the meeting, the NCC reiterated its commitment to increase partnership with consumer rights advocacy groups in the sector to expand the sphere of consumer education through timely, accurate and adequate information sharing to enhance the level of education of the average telecom consumer.

“The just-concluded virtual meeting of ICAF speaks to NCC’s commitment to give full expression to the metaphorical saying: ‘thinking beyond the box’, to get the work done in the face of challenging circumstances, such as the restrictions resulting from the outbreak of Covid-19. We are therefore committed to partner ICAF and other stakeholders in the telecom industry to stimulate value-adding conversations that will generate ideas to sustain and advance the relevance of telecommunication as a critical enabler of the digital economy,” Danbatta said at a brief in-house evaluative session on the ICAF meeting.