The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) says it plans to introduce policies that would encourage the telecoms sector to adopt clean and sustainable energy sources, to reduce carbon footprint.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Professor Umar Danbatta, stated this in Lagos at a roundtable with the academia and other stakeholders.
Professor Danbatta, represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services NCC, Mr Ubale Maska, highlighted that the policy would create a framework for telecom service providers for sustainability and new economic prospects within the industry.
The academic community, he said, played a critical role in furthering the kind of research and innovation that may alter industries, and attain the goal required in partnership with other stakeholders.
He emphasised the need to research cutting-edge technologies, like solar, wind, and biomass, that can effectively and sustainably power the communications infrastructure.
Executive Commissioner Technical Services NCC, Mr Ubale Maska and other participants at the roundtable
“We need the research of the academia to help us understand the potential of these alternative energy sources, address their challenges, and develop strategies for their implementation in the telecom sector.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor University of Benin, Professor Ray Ozolua thanked the NCC for bringing the academia together to share thoughts in their areas of expertise and pointed out that imported technologies have built-in life span that is based on economic interest giving examples with life span of solar batteries and mobile telephones.
Professor Ozolua suggested that a committee should be set up within the academia to conduct research on how to locally produce solar batteries with longer life span.
The theme of the roundtable is ” Refocusing Academic Research towards Alternative Clean Energy: Panacea to Paucity of Energy in the Telecoms Sector.”
FRCN
