Ashish Thakkar, Chief Executive Officer of Maraphone has said that the vision of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for telecommunications devices manufacturing in Nigeria is impressive.
The management team of Maraphone, a mobile phone company that manufactures their devices in Africa, visited the Commission’s headquarters on 10th July 2010 to discuss potentials of establishing a manufacturing plant for production of its affordable smart phones in Nigeria.
Ashish Thakkar said that the positive interaction with the NCC has inspired Maraphone to be more excited about the prospects of their project in Nigeria.
He said, “the visit has been very fruitful and I’m extremely impressed with the depth and breath of what NCC is doing, the true impact that they are creating and the vision that they have for broadband deployment, and we are very excited to play our little role in helping this vision come to life.”
Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, who received the guests in his office, stated that the telecoms industry in Nigeria needs to go further towards manufacturing devices that Nigerians can use to access telecoms services.
Professor Danbatta said “the NCC is trying to expand broadband connectivity by addressing infrastructure deficit in Nigeria and the Commission has already licensed six infrastructure companies that will be deploying broadband infrastructure in the country”.
He reiterated that when the massive capacity in data at the landing point is driven into the hinter land, Nigerians will need affordable smartphones for accessing broadband services.
The EVC said “all investors are welcome as the investment space is big and competition helps to bring down prices of quality and affordable services for Nigerians”, the EVC said.