BY EMEKA AGINAM

Whilevigorously pursuing the broadband deployment intended to address the data gap needed in the industry’s e-business platforms, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah at the weekend reassured Nigerians on focus of the Commission to bring telecoms services to international benchmark standards in terms of service and content.

Juwah, stated this in his remarks at the end of the week long NCC sponsored Tennis Tournament at the Ikoyi Club, Lagos.

He said that although successes have been recorded, the Commission is not unmindful of prevailing challenges in the country. His words: “The NCC has a primary mandate though it’s regulatory activities to ensure ubiquitous and pervasive telecommunications access for Nigerians and to ensure that these services get to unreached and underserved areas of our country.

Through these mandates, we have gone a long way in translating to reality to signify proportions of Nigeria. Statistically Nigeria has moved from a paltry figure of less than 400,000 epileptic lines in 2001 to over 130million connected lines within internet data services demand are rising astronomically from less than 24,000 connections in 2010 to over 70,000 at present, and even poised to rise further with the rollout of broadband services using fibre across the country which project is well on the road to full implementation.”

Continuing, Juwah said: “Be that as it may, the Commission is not all work and no play and that explains why a fair size of its Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, activities are in the area of sports and recreation because our philosophy believes in maintenance of work-life balance” he explained.