By Akinwande Onadeko

Prof. Umaru Danbatta, Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that the nation loses about N10 billion annually to the hosting of online content abroad by both public and private organizations in Nigeria. This was disclosed in Lagos yesterday at the Telecom Executives and Regulators Forum organised by Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) which said online content hosted locally saves the nation foreign exchange, thus providing more jobs and improving technical competencies for engineers.

He said the hosting of data with Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) saves the country about 2 billion naira yearly. An IXPN is a physical infrastructure through which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) exchange internet traffic between their networks. It is also the focal point of the internet. They are critical for the development of the internet and help reduce the cost of internet traffic.

In his remarks, the Managing Director IXPN, Muhammed Rudman hinted that Nigeria had won the bid to become the Regional Internet Exchange Point (RIXP) for the West Africa region, thus promoting efficiency in exchanging internet traffic across the country.