Yesterday, the Federal Government unveiled a collaborative partnership with mobile operators to launch the Zero Rated Data Access to Approved Educational Platforms and Content Initiative across the country.
The government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and operators, acting under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said programme supports the Commission’s mandate to promote modern, universal, efficient, reliable, affordable, and accessible communications services across Nigeria.
According to the plan, Operator-Sponsored Model, eligible users will receive up to 100 megabytes of free daily data allowance to access designated educational platforms. This means a learner receiving the full 100MB allowance would have access to about 700MB of educational data each week, roughly 3GB every month, and up to 36.5GB annually.
The initiative is designed to reduce the cost of data for digital learning, enabling eligible learners to use approved platforms for studying, research, online courses, and other academic activities.
While talking on the rollout, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said the initiative, which provides learners with free access to approved educational platforms, forms part of broader government efforts to equip Nigerians with digital skills, knowledge and advance human capital development.
Maida said that the programme aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of building a $1 trillion economy, which depends significantly on investing in people through education, skills acquisition and access to learning opportunities.
He said the significance of the initiative should be viewed beyond the daily 100MB allocation, particularly when considered over time and across the millions of learners expected to benefit from it.
“One hundred megabytes of data might sound a little, but when you look at it over a month and over a year, and cumulatively over the millions of learners and students that are going to access it, it’s really a significant investment by the industry towards the future of this country,” he said.
Maida added that increased connectivity would help bridge disparities in access to educational resources across different parts of the country by connecting students to teachers, learning materials and knowledge resources irrespective of location.
Describing the programme as a strategic investment in both the future of Nigeria and the telecommunications industry, he said the initiative would contribute to building a more productive workforce capable of driving innovation, economic growth and national development.
“If the economy becomes more productive through these people who access these educational platforms, they are the future innovators in Nigeria, they are the ones who are going to come up with ideas and become leaders of tomorrow. So, making them more productive is going to create more opportunities for the sector to grow. It’s not about short-term thinking. It’s about securing the future of Nigerians,” he said.
On his part, ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, said the telecommunications and wider technology industry has demonstrated significant commitment to the Zero-Rated Access initiative through financial and in-kind contributions amounting to almost ₦200 billion for the initial pilot involving 5,000 learners.
According to Adebayo, the aggregate value considers the daily 100MB connectivity allocation, network resources, devices, terminals, and other supporting contributions provided by industry stakeholders, which he said is a demonstration of the industry’s commitment to supporting the Federal Government’s education and digital inclusion agenda.
Adebayo explained that telecommunications operators are absorbing the cost of providing the connectivity and network capacity required to deliver daily access to approved educational platforms, adding that this represents a substantial commitment of network resources over the duration of the programme and is being undertaken in support of a national development objective.
The ALTON Chairman noted that the Zero-Rated Access initiative is attracting a whole-of-industry response involving telecommunications operators, OEMs, TowerCos and other technology stakeholders.
He said the significance of the commitment should not be measured merely by the amount of data being provided, but also by its potential to enable Nigerian learners to access knowledge, prepare for examinations, conduct research, acquire digital skills and participate in the emerging digital economy.
According to him, the industry is not merely asking the federal government to create policies or programmes but is also putting substantial resources behind the national objective.
“This is a partnership in the truest sense: Government provides the policy and educational framework; the regulator provides coordination and oversight; telecommunications operators provide connectivity and network resources; while OEMs, TowerCos and other technology partners contribute devices, terminals and other critical resources,” he said.
Adebayo, who said the objective is to remove accessibility barriers for learners, called on other stakeholders to contribute to the national effort. He stressed that, in addition to connectivity, the success of digital education requires devices, appropriate content, reliable infrastructure, digital literacy, and sustained investment.
“The telecommunications industry has demonstrated its willingness to lead by example,” he said of the initiative, which he described an expression of confidence in Nigeria’s young people and the future of the country.
“Investing in education is investing in Nigeria’s future and the telecommunications industry is putting its resources behind that future,” Adebayo said.
He said ALTON and its members remain committed to working with Government, the NCC, the Federal Ministry of Education and all other stakeholders to ensure that the investment produces measurable and lasting educational outcomes.
