Improved broadband penetration is a catalyst for economic development and increased adoption of banking services, according to David Venn, CEO of ISP Spectranet.

Venn was speaking at the BusinessDay Broadband Summit held in Lagos, and added that broadband could have more of an impact on Nigerians than that of mobile phones.

"Through broadband, you have access to all the knowledge on the Internet, can run global businesses from anywhere and can reach customers across the globe," Venn said. "If we look three to four years ahead and imagine that most towns and cities in Nigeria have broadband, then an important enabler for this would be the availability of a national fibre network connecting all places to the submarine landing stations in Lagos."

While making case for the establishment of an independent national fibre backbone company, Venn said it would be similar to the infrastructural companies that were licensed to operate in specific regions of the country.

"But for such an operation to make meaningful progress, it should be empowered to build the infrastructure without hindrance and fees imposed by state and other authorities. Such a network would be a huge enabler for the rollout of broadband and would become a key asset for the nation accelerating Nigeria's drive towards an e-economy," he said.

Olusola Teniola, President of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), affirmed that improved broadband penetration has had great impacts in Nigeria's banking sector by increasing the proportion of citizens with bank accounts to 23%.

"Through 107% telephone and 55% internet penetration, the banking sector has been hugely impacted by increased broadband penetration in the country. Today, telecommunications operators are increasingly seeking to expand customer-specific and value-added services (such as combining connectivity with application services) to retain relevancy and protect against margin erosion," said Teniola.