Telecommunication Problems and Solution in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Telecommunications is a way of life as it affects how and where we do ‘everything’. An enormous amount of the activity driving telecommunications has to do with the emergence of advanced applications. The most communities in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, are strongly faced with many challenges which include extreme poverty, lack of social services and infrastructures, low level of education and health status, as well as unequal access to income opportunities. Despite the fact that telecommunications services in Nigeria could be traced back to 1851, the aforementioned factors, coupled with the difficult physical terrain in some cases, have made them lack behind the urban areas with regard to provision of telecommunications access. This paper discusses the issues behind the failure of telecom and possible solutions in providing universal telecommunications access as directed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Advantages of extending telecommunications technology to the rural areas, particularly to the rural women, are enumerated. The paper also proffers solutions to meeting the telecommunications needs of the rural communities in Nigeria within a very short, but reasonable, time.