Nigeria’s first broadband forum will open in March 2010. The forum, slated to hold for two days in the first week of March, is aimed at drawing a roadmap for broadband band development and usage in the country.

Stakeholders are naturally upbeat that 2010 will usher in the broadband revolution, but as it is commonly known wishes alone do not do the job. The Forum is being packaged by eWorld magazine, with support from industry stakeholders.

Speaking on the imperative of the Forum, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Editor of eWorld Magazine, Mr Aaron Ukodie said, “There are grey areas that must be looked at; a pathway that leads to fruitful deployment, espeacially on the national and users end must be well articulated”.

According to him. though the expected berthing of a number of undersea cables in the New Year signals a good propect for broadband hope, the last mile end must be put in perspective. Already Glo 1 is already anchored on Nigerian shore awaiting activation. WACS and MainOne are making speedy sail towards Nigeria. SAT-3, the old horse awaits its competitors.

Plotting the pathway early enough in the year ensures that stakeholders do not grope in the various tasks in achieving the expectations of Nigerians.

An headache -free ebuisness and all the expected e-transactions are premised on the coming developments, Ukodie noted.

Nigeria’s broadband hope is in line with the focus of several developed countries, such as the United States , which is exploring the broadband route for economic revival.

There are however questions that are begging for answers if the expectations are to be realised.
For instance, are there effective regulations to drive broadband networks and service provisioning?