ABSENCE OF RETAILERS SLOWS BROADBAND, SAYS OMO-ETTU

ATCON President, Mr. Tit Omo-Ettu, has said lack of retailer chain in the distribution of available broadband infrastructure in the country is responsible for low access to broad band, despite the 75% drop in price.

Omo Ettu who dropped the hint at a Broadband Investment Summit held last week in Lagos, dismissed the much talked bout huge drop in bandwidth prices, which he said is not translating into usage.

'A crash of bandwidth price of up to 75% was mentioned in one of the players presentations and the argument was given that price drop had actually taken place at the mouth of MainOne submarine cable in Lagos but it requires further retailing to take the service down to the end-user and the price to pay would depend on how far away from Lagos is the user and how many retail sellers are available down the way.

''That is why we are here and that is the reason we are making initial investment into this summit, which is designed to create business awareness and to ensure retailers emerge in their numbers so that the forces of competition can bring down price and control quality,' he stated.

Continuing, the ATCON boss said 'this product is not like petroleum product which government has subsidized and we do not even want it to be like petroleum which is being subsidized and yet impossible to get.

According to him, ATCON model is to motivate investment, create entrepreneurs, generate work for the teaming millions of youths on the street, and then go to government as a right to demand stimulant funding.

'We would not require the funding until we have developed entrepreneurs to use them lest we create a cartel of hawks who are friends of the powers that be making it possible to secure funding that goes into private pockets,' he revealed, insisting that prices would come crashing down when their plans start working, thereby building a business environment. We have done it before and we can do it again' said Omo-Ettu.