Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), says active GSM subscribers in the country have increased from 184 million in December 2019 to 199.3 million in May 2020.

Danbatta made the disclosure at the virtual launch/award ceremony of the COVID-19 Research Grant presented to three startups, by the NCC, on Tuesday Abuja.

He further explained that internet subscriptions in the same period increased from 126 million to 147.1 million, while broadband subscriptions also increased from 72 million to 80.2 million, achieving a 42.02 percent penetration in the country.

Danbatta explained that the startups participated in a 3-month virtual hackathon with the theme Virtual Hackathon: “Adaptable Digital Solutions for Addressing the Present and Future Impact of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases from Technology Hubs, Startups and Innovation Digital SMEs in Nigeria”.

“These may have given impetus to the possibility of holding virtual meetings and conferences on video technologies that are now providing social distancing solutions.

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“So, in whichever way we look at it, telecommunication has a much greater role to play than many other sectors of economy and society.

“Therefore, the challenge is for us to find a way to accentuate our local content solution, which is a blessing to us. We are pleased with the responses that we received on this initiative,” he said.

Danbatta said that the NCC has in the past two years managed similar ICT-based innovations and research competitions among tertiary institutions in the country, with potentials of improving local content solutions in the industry.

“We should be bold enough as a country in adopting indigenous solutions. We must adopt and consume them. There should be less attention on imported goods.

“It is a national aspiration to spice some of these technologies with local content as a way of improving availability of local manpower and advancing ICT skills.

“Technology has provided solutions to the challenge of weak public systems by providing solutions to the most challenges in education, health, financial and agricultural sectors,” he said.

It was learned that each of the Startups or tech-hubs with promising innovative digital solutions against the pandemic will receive a grant of N3 million

The three winners included-Messers Primed E-Health, Messers Cyberfleet Integrated Limited, and Messers Elizade University.