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Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has urged regulatory institutions in the technology sector to be alive to their responsibilities given the upsurge in new Information Technology and Communications (ICT)  and the need to regulate their deployment in the country.

Pantami stated this, yesterday, at a stakeholders consultative forum on guidelines for the use of Television Whitespace (TVWS) in Nigeria, held at the Nigerian Communications Commission headquarters in Abuja. The forum which was organised jointly by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in order to come up with subsidiary legislations for the deployment and usage of Television Whitespace, hosted various government bodies and private organizations affiliated with technology in Nigeria. On the impact of Television Whitespace technology to digital economy, Pantami said: “NCC has a mandate of broadband penetration in Nigeria, while TV Whitespace is been used today in broadband particularly to penetrate unserved and underserved areas in the world. It is because of this that the National Frequency Management Council charged the NCC and NBC to work together to come up with guidelines for TV Whitespace in order to provide broadband to unserved and underserved areas. I think this is key to the digital economy of  President Muhammadu Buhari.” Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said new technology would have positive impact  on Nigerians.