NNBP: Pantami Addresses BTAF With 5G Hologram Display

The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has again stressed the importance of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) for nation-building.

The Minister was speaking at the Broadband Technical Awareness Forum (BTAF) for Governors which held on Thursday, October 20, 2022, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja where stakeholders witnessed first-hand, the power of 5G connectivity.

Powered by the low latency of 5G enabled by MTN Nigeria, Pantami delivered the keynote speech from a different section of the venue, and attendees were able to interact with him as he was beamed onto a platform as a three-dimensional projection in real-time.

Organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the BTAF is a forum that discusses the importance of internet broadband penetration by highlighting its various benefits across different sectors of the economy for increased revenue generation, employment opportunities, and the efficiency its impacts across various fields such as education, medicine, and agriculture.

According to data released by the NCC on September 26, 2022, there is a 44.68 per cent broadband penetration in Nigeria and up to 79.8 per cent of the population has access to the internet. Pantami said these figures reflect a progression from data released in 2019.  Despite this marked growth, he insists that there is a need to view broadband penetration as a necessity and no longer as a luxury.