As the ITU Telecom World 2019 opens in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, on September 9, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is among leading telecommunications experts to address the global audience.
It is indeed a gathering of global players in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry as they converge on Budapest, for the annual topmost telecommunications event organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Prof. Danbatta has been listed as one of the global ICT experts to speak during the four-day yearly gathering which is a global event for governments, corporates and tech Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs).
The chief executive of the Nigerian telecom regulator will be speaking alongside the ITU Secretary General, Houlin Zhao, as keynote speakers at the ITU Telecom World 2019.
Also named in this high profile forum list are: Amanda Nelson, CEO, Vodafone Hungary, Adrian Lovett, President and CEO, Web Foundation, Helena Leurent, Director, Keng Thai Leong, Deputy CEO, Infocomm Singapore, and Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Ghana’s Minister of Communications.
ITU is the specialised United Nations (UN) agency that coordinates telecommunications operations and services throughout the world.
Originally founded in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, the ITU is the oldest existing international organisation.
Nigeria joined ITU on April 11, 1961, and has participated in most ITU Telecom World events since then, and was elected Council Member early in the year 2019 and will remain in council for another four years before another election.
A statement by the NCC says this year’s event in Budapest, Hungary, will be one of the highpoints of Nigeria’s attendance as the country remains “an Investor Haven in Africa where Returns on Investments (RoI) are guaranteed.” Above all, NCC says it is taking to ITU Telecom World its Open Access Model and how it has been able to improve broadband penetration from less than 5% in 2013, to over 30% by December 2018, based on the National Broadband Plan (2013-2018), and by July 2019, it hit 33.72%.