Political Economist

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About us
  • Contact us

Main Menu

  • Local News
  • World News
  • Business & Economy
  • Sports
  • Commentaries
  • Home
  • About us
  • Contact us

logo



Political Economist

  • Local News
  • World News
  • Business & Economy
  • Sports
  • Commentaries
  • WIKE MAKES HISTORY, OTHERS MAKE EXCUSES; BY PAULINUS NSIRIM

  • Still too early to gauge how AfCFTA will affect sports, entertainment industry – Centurion Law Group

  • PEBEC receives report exposing pitfalls in some govt. agencies

  • Founder Institute releases list of Lagos Ecosystem Canvas v2

  • LASG SET TO REMOVE ILLEGAL STRUCTURES ON PROPOSED WORKERS SCHEME

Local News
Home›Local News›USPF Rallies to Serve the Underserved

USPF Rallies to Serve the Underserved

By Admin
December 27, 2014
264
0

MaikanoThe need for universal access to ICTs cannot be overemphasised and as African countries seek means and measures to bridge the gap in terms of access to ICTs, the continent has come up with structures and plans for the adequate and proper deployment of ICT infrastructures across cities and communities to aid access to ICT services thereby connecting the unconnected and underserved areas.

As governments in Africa work towards a connected Africa, various initiatives have been put in place, like the Smart cities initiative, Smart States, Smart Africa, Seed Funds to Support ICT growth, etc. all these no doubt will help in bridging the gap in ICT access delivery in Africa to the underserved and unserved areas.

But how far will these initiatives go and how well will these funds be utilised to deploy adequate ICT infrastructures that will cater for those lacking these services in the region.

Nigeria is however on the part to achieving that digital economy in all parts of the country; thereby occupying a space in the market place that exists on the internet through its broadband plan to achieve access to all.

ICT access gap is nonetheless a viable option to achieving universal access, as this will help to know the status of ICT in the country. Of the estimated 170 million Nigerians, it has been said that about 40 million still lack access to basic Information and Communication Technology services and products.

It would be recalled that in November 2014 the Ministry of Communications Technology under the watch of the minister, Omobola Johnson, commissioned a Base Transceiver Station, BTS, in Igbo Olodumare a suburb of Ondo State, this was part of the ministry’s quest to see that both the underserved and unserved areas within the nation get ICT services delivered to them in order to have access to voice and data service , offering subsidised data service to such areas that are either unserved or underserved.

And with a promise of connecting about 111 communities in South West Nigeria to various telephone services through seed funds provided by the Universal Service Provision Fund, the next implementation phase according to the ministry, will see the deployment of more than 200 BTS across Nigeria which will enable more than 300 communities with an estimated population of 1.6 million gain access to ICT services.

At a recent industry forum to unveil the new USPF website, and launch of clusters of ICT gap, Johnson said that the USPF in pursuit of its mandate to stimulate the deployment and utilisation of ICT services in unserved and underserved communities and groups in the country, has continued to play a leading role in promoting and deepening ICT access and availability in the rural areas of the country. “The mandate of the fund is the backdrop against which it developed the SMP 2013-2017 to guide the execution of sustainable ICT projects which will improve the quality of lives of Nigerians and facilitate socio-economic development.”

The minister however stated further that as the country forges ahead it is the greatest wish of the ministry to continue to collaborate with the telecoms operators to closing access gap and to set Nigeria on the path of being a digitalised nation.

The minister who is also the chairman of the USPF board added that in trying to make ICT access a reality, it has become clear that to make the dream of providing ICT access and availability to all in the country a reality, the country needed to get a clear view of the true access gap within the country so that the interventions are targeted at the appropriate communities and groups.

According to the USPF, access to ICT is not a privilege but a right. Indeed this is true but how will Nigeria be able to achieve this? If this dream of a connected Nigeria must be realised how will this be done considering the fact that the country is vast, comprising six geo-political zones?

ICT clusters for adequate access delivery

To make access possible, Abdullahi Maikano, Secretary USPF said that there was the need to identify the overall ICT access gap in Nigeria and to group the gaps into clusters of voice telephony and transport network gap within the country. This he added was done in the geo-political zones of the country where the attributes of the clusters is important to getting networks or connection to those areas.

He further added that the USPF came up with 207 clusters, having an estimated population of 36.8 million people. This according to him is the first of its kind in Africa, where also existing service areas were identified.

With Delta State having seven clusters and Lagos two, the USPF is designing projects and strategies to cover these gaps and to ensure that everyone irrespective of locality is connected in the 21st century.

Tagsmainnewsmainnews2newsbarrecommended
Previous Article

Tinubu Calls Buhari ‘Agent of Destabilization’

Next Article

Exclusive: New ITU Secretary General, Zhao, Speaks ...

Related articles More from author

  • Local News

    Senate stops Customs from collecting duties on old vehicles

    March 7, 2017
    By Admin
  • Local News

    Nigeria’s foreign reserve edge up to $30bn

    March 11, 2017
    By Admin
  • Local News

    Israeli firm Cellebrite named as FBI’s mystery helper in iPhone decryption

    March 25, 2016
    By Admin
  • Local News

    Gunmen attack Bayelsa police station; kill one, injure three

    September 6, 2017
    By Admin
  • Local News

    Petrobras Scam: Brazil Construction Tycoon to Spend 19 Years In Jail

    March 11, 2016
    By Admin
  • Local News

    Obuh, PDP Aspirant, Shuts Down Asaba, Says ‘I’m Set to Serve’

    November 8, 2014
    By Admin

You may be interested

  • World News

    Former Trump Adviser Flynn May Be Jailed For Lying to FBI

  • Commentaries

    Nigerians Need a Conversation

  • Local News

    IGP Happy as Nigeria Police Nab Fleeing UK Murder Fugitive in Asaba

Fidelity Advert
  • LATEST REVIEWS

  • TOP REVIEWS

  • NDIC Pays N1.45bn to Over 16,000 Depositors of 34 Closed DMBs in 2017– Report

    0
  • Gboko killings: Police DPO under interrogation, others arrested —CP

  • NSE market indices drop by 1.64% after Christmas holidays

    0

    Timeline

    • January 22, 2021

      2021 economic outlook: Rewane projects gradual recovery in domestic economy, positive growth in Q3

    • January 22, 2021

      Lagos Police nabs 4 inspectors over  alleged harassment, extortion

    • January 22, 2021

      Governor Sule visits Buhari, seeks support to dislodge  Boko Haram from Nasarawa

    • January 22, 2021

      Chevron denies responsibility of Bayelsa oil leak, promises to trace source

    • January 22, 2021

      COVID-19 Vaccine: We are expecting final confirmation from Covax – NPHCDA

    Latest Comments

    • Justopec
      on
      April 24, 2017
      Good one for the NPF.

      Police foil another suicide bomb attempt in Borno, kill three bombers

    • Justice Shedrack
      on
      April 24, 2017
      Nice

      Police foil another suicide bomb attempt in Borno, kill three bombers

    • Anonymouse
      on
      February 8, 2017
      This is nice...

      Qatar Airways makes history, completes first longest non-stop flight of 16 hours from Doha to New ...

    • Justice Shedrack
      on
      January 19, 2017
      Na wa ooooo

      Confusion in Gambia, Jammeh stays put, Barrow to be sworn in at Gambia embassy in Senegal

    • Taje
      on
      November 10, 2016
      It's true. Debrecen looks like africa and not europe. Too much "blackness"

      Exclusive: Nigeria Has Highest Number of International Students in Hungarian University, Says Ambassador Yunusa

    logo

    Political Economist is a liberal news magazine with global affiliations.

    We promote free enterprise and act as a catalyst for the growth of knowledge economy. We are proudly pan-Nigeria yet richly spiced with African and global news. We offer a fair and balanced news reportage presented by our team of well-heeled professional journalists...

    About us

    • 5 Olutosin Ajayi Street, By CPM Church, Ajao Estate, Lagos State, Nigeria
    • +234 805 680 1124
    • info@politicaleconomistng.com
    • Recent

    • Popular

    • Comments

    • 2021 economic outlook: Rewane projects gradual recovery in domestic economy, positive growth in Q3

      By Admin
      January 22, 2021
    • police

      Lagos Police nabs 4 inspectors over  alleged harassment, extortion

      By Admin
      January 22, 2021
    • Sule

      Governor Sule visits Buhari, seeks support to dislodge  Boko Haram from Nasarawa

      By Admin
      January 22, 2021
    • PENGASSAN

      Chevron denies responsibility of Bayelsa oil leak, promises to trace source

      By Admin
      January 22, 2021
    • Jonathan Sacks IGP Abba, Appoints Arase

      By Admin
      April 21, 2015
    • Zinox iPower Inverter Claws to Market Dominance

      By Admin
      November 24, 2014
    • Police foil another suicide bomb attempt in Borno, kill three bombers

      By Admin
      April 24, 2017
    • Your Kidney is Your Life, Watch Your Lifestyle, Counsels Dr. Amira

      By Admin
      February 27, 2015
    • Justopec
      on
      April 24, 2017

      Police foil another suicide bomb attempt in Borno, kill three bombers

      Good one for the ...
    • Justice Shedrack
      on
      April 24, 2017

      Police foil another suicide bomb attempt in Borno, kill three bombers

      Nice
    • Anonymouse
      on
      February 8, 2017

      Qatar Airways makes history, completes first longest non-stop flight of 16 hours from Doha to New ...

      This is nice...
    • Justice Shedrack
      on
      January 19, 2017

      Confusion in Gambia, Jammeh stays put, Barrow to be sworn in at Gambia embassy in Senegal

      Na wa ooooo

    Find us on Facebook

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    © Copyright Political Economist. All rights reserved.