The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has given approval to Pan African Towers Limited (PAT) to operate as a telecommunications co-location company in the country after a presentation to the regulatory body on it’s grand vision for mobile operators.
NCC communicated the approval to the company in a letter signed by the Executive Vice Chairman. PAT plans to commence operations in Nigeria immediately and to launch in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone before the end of this year as well as in Liberia, Gambia, Guinea and Senegal in 2018. The new company will use green technology to reduce cost and help accelerate broadband penetration, which is necessary for economic development and poverty reduction.
According to the director, Mr Sohail Haider, the NCC approval is a welcome development and will serve as a relief to the operators in Nigeria and across Africa who have been calling for more competition in that sector, “PAT is well positioned to achieve that goal,” he said.
“According to recent reports from NCC, Nigeria needs about 80,000 base stations to achieve the Smart Nigeria Initiative using 4G /5G technology but currently has much less than 50,000 base stations.”
No comments:
Post a Comment