The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), charged with increasing Internet penetration through the popularization of the .ng domain name, has set a target of growing Internet usage in the country to 2 million in the next 18 months. NIRA President Ndukwe Kalu announced the goal at the association's second annual general meeting in Lagos on Wednesday.

NIRA, he said, has identified three opportunities to boost internet penetration in Nigeria: the proliferation of the data market within the core telecommunications industry, the need to protect brands with multiple domains (for both corporate names and product brands), and rising content needs in the Nigerian market.

Kalu attributed these opportunities to the increasing importance Nigerians are placing on Internet space, recognized not only by corporate bodies but also by individual bloggers.

"We hope to tap this opportunity fully to populate the various second-level domains for .ng," he said.

NIRA will also capitalize on the federal government's projects, such as the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative, in order to reach its goal, Kalu said. The government's initiatives should result in 1 million connected broadband users and 2 million total Internet users in 18 months time, he estimated.

This growth will in turn translate to a greater number of .ng domain registrations, Kalu noted.

"The next wave," he announced, "is the provision of mobile specific content for over 56 million mobile users. All these are expected to drive domain registration and online content."