Why NCC's Strategic Master Plan will be the best ever - ATCON

The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has said the newly launched Strategic Master Plan (SMP) 2020-2024 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is bound to be more successful than the previous ones.

ATCON made this known during the virtual launch of the NCC’s five-year strategic plan in Abuja which had in attendance officials from the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigerian Communications Commission, other sister parastatals under the Ministry and other critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector.

In his goodwill message, Mr Olusola Teniola, ATCON President, expressed delight that the Nigerian Communications Commission reached out to critical stakeholders in the Nigerian Information and Communications Technology(ICT) and Telecoms sector to unveil a five-year plan that would take the industry to new heights.

Teniola explained that the Strategic Master Plan would record more success than the previous ones because ATCON will collaborate with the NCC, Galaxy Backbone, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and other stakeholders to work the plan out through initiation of programmes in order to realise its set goals for the industry.

“On behalf of the National Executive Council of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the entire member companies under ATCON, I am particularly happy that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under its supervising Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy which is ably headed by Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has called the entire important stakeholders in the Nigerian ICT and telecoms sector to unveil a plan that would last between 2020 – 2024.

“There is an adage which says that failure to plan is equivalent to plan to fail. With this planning which is expected to take its root from the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and the new National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025 (NBP) is expected to be more successful than the previous ones because ATCON will collaborate with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, NCC, NITDA, NigCoMSAT, Galaxy Backbone, USPF, and DBI to work the plan out with all other stakeholders especially our members through the initiation of programmes in order to realize it set goals for the industry.

” It should be stressed that this plan takes into consideration the post-COVID-19 pandemic in relation to regulation of the Nigerian telecom sector viz-a-viz the expectations of players in the industry.

“Once again, we congratulate Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC and the management of NCC. ATCON pledges to work with NCC in order to realize the listed deliverables of the plan for Nigeria and the generality of the people of our great country,” he said

In his remarks, Prof Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, said the commission took into account the economic diversification plan of the Federal Government in the formulation of the SMP, which is focused on robust digital economy.

Danbatta said the SMP would serve as a roadmap for the future of the Nigerian telecoms sector, taking into account the current and emerging trends in the industry and the expectations of stakeholders.

“The Federal Government’s economic diversification plans are focused on a robust digital economy, which will improve employment generation, as well as encourage innovation. This was prime in our minds during the formulation of the SMP.

“We have invested great time and effort in ensuring that this document is pragmatic, and I am very confident and excited in its completeness to successfully guide the commission in achieving the set objectives. We are committed to the implementation of this SMP,” he said.