Nigerians doubt the transition from analogue to digital will take place by 2012

NIGERIAN legislators are not convinced that government’s ambitions to move from analogue technology to modern digital systems could be achieved by the year 2012, arguing that the relevant ministry needed serious commitment to achieve that goal.

The concerns come barely a week after the lawmakers accused the country’s telecommunication operators of providing sub-standard services to the nation hiding under the guise of poor network.

Worse still, the legislators were disturbed by the Ministry of Information and Communications’ failure to give detailed accounts of expenditure last year.

The Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, was not amused by parliament’s rejection of her budget proposals for 2009, demanding the production of breakdowns of expenditure for last year.

Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua is keen to see that the West African nation becomes a force to be reckoned with in information and communication technology sector. However, the recent rejection of the ministry’s budget casts doubts on the goal being achieved.

Boasting of top information and communication companies, Nigeria is confronted with congested network problems, a move the legislators said needed urgent attention.

Network congestion in Nigeria causes poor reception, drop calls, poor voice signal as well as blocking of interconnect routes between networks.–ITNewsAfrica.