MTN Boosts FG’s Plan to Achieve 70% Internet Broadband Penetration

The Federal Government’s plan to achieve 70 per cent internet penetration in urban and rural areas by 2025 has received a boost from the foremost telecommunications operator, MTN.

This position was revealed by the General Manager, Fixed Broadband at MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, who added that the feat would be actively actualised if the private sector and the public sector effectively made tactical collaborations.

The National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) specified the kind of internet speeds expected for both urban and rural areas – 25mbps and 10mbps respectively.

This means while the FG was prioritizing achieving 70 per cent internet penetration, it was also very necessary to target the needed internet speeds in the different locations.

While speaking on the modalities set in place to enable the penetration, Ikenna-Emeka noted that both the MTN Group’s Strategic Ambition 2025 and the Federal Government’s broadband target were in close alignment.

Ikenna-Emeka said: “Today, what is most prevalent is the fixed wireless access and that is the technology that is being adopted by all operators globally. That’s what we want to scale and accelerate in our drive to achieve broadband penetration.

Recall MTN Nigeria Communications Plc had announced the launch of the Home Broadband services earlier this month as a means of accelerating broadband penetration in alignment with the federal government’s plan to achieve over 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025.

With Nigeria’s population towering at about 200 million people, the country currently boasts of approximately 44.3 per cent internet connectivity, a low figure when compared to other African countries, such as South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya, at 68, 74, and 48 percent internet penetration, respectively.

MTN has the largest connectivity base in the country with over 70 million Nigerians (over seven per cent 4G population and 89.8 percent coverage nationwide).

Achieving the FG’s 2025 internet penetration plan would be an accomplished task as millions of Nigerian households would immensely benefit from the company’s new Home Broadband services.

Currently, approximately 50 per cent of the users who are located in rural areas have access to reliable and ultra-fast broadband services as a result of MTN’s new Home Broadband services.