Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, says active GSM subscribers in the country have increased from 184 million in December 2019 to 199.3 million in May 2020.
Danbatta made this known at the virtual launch/award ceremony of the COVID-19 Research Grant presented to three startups, by the NCC, on Tuesday Abuja.
He explained that internet subscription in the same period increased from 126 million to 147.1 million, while broadband subscription also increased from 72 million to 80.2 million, achieving a 42.02 per cent penetration in the country.
Danbatta further 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”.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, who presented a N9 million COVID-19 research grants to the three promising startups, stressed that there was the need to adopt indigenous solutions to challenges in the country.
Pantami also encouraged individuals to consume what the country produced and pay less attention to imported goods.
NCC Director, Research and Development, Dr. Henry Nkemadu, said that there was the need to harness the potentials of technologies in order to address societal challenges and meet up to standard.
Nkemadu explained that the Hackathon was designed to engage the startups to compete in a healthy manner to improve innovations.
He noted that 298 submissions were received from startups of, which 56 qualified for the final stage of the evaluation process based on the selection criteria and later came up with three winners.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports 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 Intergrated Limited and Messers Elizade University.
Source: NAN
