Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the federal government is building broadband infrastructure in order to crash the cost of internet data to N390 per 1GB in the next three years.

A gigabyte of data currently costs between N1,000 and N1,200 in Nigeria’s telecom market, though the country still has cheaper data rates compared with other countries.

But speaking during the opening ceremony of 51st annual conference of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in Abuja on Thursday vice president Osinbajo said by the time the government completed laying of broadband infrastructure across the country data prices would further crash.

Apart from crashing the data cost, the vice president who was represented by the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, also said the broadband infrastructure would also increase the internet speed 10megabyte download speed per second (10mps).

Nigeria currently has 15.60mps in the urban centres and 45 in the rural areas.

He said the federal government would involve estate surveyors in its infrastructure drive, especially in the areas of building and construction.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the President and chairman in council of NIESV, Emmanuel Okas Wike, said the government should hand off the building of houses in the country to the private sector and liberalise the sector like that of the telecommunication sector.

Wike said building infrastructure is the catalyst to economic development and the private sector should be fully involved in it.