Danbatta, listed among global speakers at ITU Telecom World, 2019

By Etuka Sunday

Global players in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry will converge in Budapest, Hungary on September 9, 2019, when the International Communication Union (ITU) hosts its yearly telecommunications event, ‘ITU Telecom World 2019,’ at the Hung Expo, Budapest, Hungary.
The event which flags off on Monday, September 9, 2019, will be rounded off on Thursday, September 12, 2019.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC)/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has been listed as one of the global ICT Experts to speak at key fora during the four-day yearly gathering which is a global event for governments, corporates and Tech Small & Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs).
Prof. Danbatta, a Telecommunications Engineer, was listed by the ITU management, led by the Secretary General, Houlin Zhao, as one of the key note 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 a specialized 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 organization.
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.
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, 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%.
NCC hosted only last week, in Abuja, the first African Digital Week, an initiative of the ITU, having hosted a week earlier, the 2nd edition of Conference of African Telecommunications Regulators on Consumer Affairs (CATCO), also in Abuja.