Victor EzejaGIVEN the approval and ongoing implementation of national policy for Fifth Generation network (5G) in Nigeria, Senate has urged National Communications Commssion (NCC) to raise it’s revenue target to N350bn in the 2022 fiscal year.
The Senate joint committees working on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), gave the mandate to NCC when management of the commission appeared before the panel.
Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta had while making presentation before the panel about the commission’s 2022 budget, announced a projection of N115 billion, but did not take into consideration the 5G spectrum auction.
Chairman of the Joint committee on MTEF/FSP, Senator Solomon Adeola, however said the 2022 NCC budget projection of N115bn, would not be acceptable.
He said, “We are proposing about N350bn. This is because there must be projection for the sale of the spectrum following the launch of the 5G network.”
Nigerian government had on Wednesday during Federal Executive Council meeting approved the national policy for 5G Network to boost access to telecommunication services in the country.
Minister of Communications and Digital economy, Dr Isa Pantami who presented a memo to the council for its consideration and approval, said to news men after the meeting, “The 5G network will open many opportunities economically, academically, educationally and even in the health sector. It will also support our security institutions, particularly in areas where they need high quality services.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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