The subscription for Nigeria's Fifth Generation network has reached the 500,000 mark. The Executive Vice Chairman, of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Dantatta, who revealed this at a media parley recently in Kano noted that NCC is also promising to achieve at least 50 percent broadband coverage of the nation before the end of 2023. NCC also revealed that general internet subscriptions reached 159.5 million from less than 100 million in 2015. The Executive Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, noted that the national target to achieve 70 percent broadband penetration by 2025 was receiving renewed attention from the Commission.
According to a statement by NCC’s spokesperson, Mr. Rueben Muoka, Danbatta gave statistics. The statement quoted the NCC boss as saying that the various efforts of the Commission to improve broadband penetration were yielding fruitful results with the current estimates as of July 2023 standing at 47.01 per cent.
Highlighting his achievements since the assumption of office till date, the EVC spoke to 119 milestones achieved under the five strategic pillars, including regulatory excellence, universal broadband, market development, digital economy, and strategic collaboration.
Danbatta stated that through the effective implementation of NCC’s mandates under his leadership and the cooperation of internal and external stakeholders since 2015, the telecommunications industry in Nigeria has achieved remarkable milestones under our leadership.
“While we acknowledge the challenges encountered by the industry, we have also witnessed explosive growth, improved regulatory standards, and digital innovations that have garnered global recognition,” he said.
The EVC said active telephone subscribers had increased from less than 150.7 million to 218.9 million, representing a teledensity growth of 115.70 per cent from 107.87 per cent in 2015.
Through stimulating broadband infrastructure across the country, Danbatta said broadband penetration, which stood at six per cent in 2015 has increased significantly to 47.01 per cent as of July 2023, enhancing over 89.73 million subscriptions on 3G, 4G, and 5G networks in the country.
“Also, from 8 per cent contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015, the telecommunications sector now contributes 16 per cent quarterly to the Nigerian economy as of the second quarter of 2023. Besides, following the authorization of more telecommunications companies to operate in Nigeria’s telecoms sector, the investment profile has increased tremendously from $38 billion in 2015 to $75 billion currently and this keeps growing daily.
From the sales of Fifth Generation (5G) C-Band Spectrum, the NCC has generated over $847.8 million for the Federal Government,” he said.
“Other milestones and initiatives recorded aside the regulatory activities that culminated in the landmark launch of 5G services in Nigeria include the introduction of Spectrum Trading Guidelines, re-farming and re-planning certain spectrum band for efficiency, the emplaced collaborative process for the release of C-Band Spectrum by Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited, and introduction of the Expanded Revenue Assurance Solution (ERAS) to address revenue leakages and improve government revenue from the telecoms industry.
“These initiatives also include Licensing of Satellite Earth Stations, issuing of operating licence to SpaceX Satellite, facilitating the landing of additional submarine Cables, such as the Google 2,000km Equiano subsea Internet cable in 2022, listing of MTN on the Nigerian bourse, licensing of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), introduction of new unlicensed millimeter wave spectrum, and regulation of white space spectrum,” Danbatta added.
