Communication
Multiple regulations, taxes’ll soon be over –NCC
ABUJA-THE Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, on Friday said that if talks with the Nigeria Governors Forum were anything to go by, multiple regulations, taxes and right of way issues would be over soon.
Telecoms mast
Besides talks with the NGF, the NCC, he said, had also engaged other agencies of government in talks with a view to improving relationship with telecommunications service providers who are often the victims of the multiple taxes and regulations.
Danbatta spoke in Abuja when he received the management team of ATC Wireless Infrastructure Company of Nigeria, an infrastructure management company.
The commission’s EVC said that the NCC as a responsible regulatory agency was worried about multiple regulations and taxes because they do not augur well for smooth development of the telecommunications sector.
He said, “So we have decided to engage all stakeholders, especially other government agencies, in order to cushion the pains operators go through.
“The NCC is particularly worried about the indiscriminate way base transceiver stations are sealed by agencies and some state governments and we have appealed to these agencies and the state governors to show some understanding.”
He added, “We are particularly in talks with them to understand the implications of these actions as they affect quality of service and other sundry matters, including power supply.”
He therefore implored ATC Nigeria to ensure regular power supply to the managed base stations in order to make a difference, “because government has created an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.”
Earlier in his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, ATC Nigeria, Mr. Gordon Porter, said his team came to familiarise itself with the NCC management and to “tell you what we do, how we do it and why we do what we do.”
ATC had recently acquired 4716 cell sites from Bharti Airtel Nigeria and for the past 146 days it has deployed 1,000 generators and replaced 600 air-conditioning units.
So far, over $11m has been invested by the company in these towers with a view to improving quality of service.
“ATC has been in constant talks with host communities with a view to improving relations and right-of-way,” Porter said.
He said that although it had a commercial relationship with Airtel, it was interested in working with other operators, especially on the issue of co-location, adding that ATC hoped to inject about $100m in the business in the next two years.
In a significant market projection, Mordor Intelligence predicts that the Nigerian telecom sector is set to surge to a value of $11.43 billion by 2029.
The report anticipates a steady growth trajectory with a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 4.70% between 2024 and 2029, based on the current market value of $9.09 billion.
The transformation of Nigeria’s telecom landscape, fueled by government initiatives to boost internet infrastructure and broadband connectivity, coupled with rising data consumption, 5G deployments, and innovative strategies from major telecom players, is expected to drive this substantial market expansion.
The report underscores additional factors propelling the growth of Nigeria’s telecom sector, emphasizing the surge in smartphone adoption.
the report said “Increased smartphone adoption in Nigeria has fueled the development of a dynamic digital services sector. Currently, millions of Nigerians use mobile apps, including social networking sites, e-commerce, and financial services.
“These apps could leverage smartphones’ capabilities to offer speed, convenience, and efficiency, encouraging more people to invest in smartphones.
“In addition to these expansions and collaborations, the growing adoption of digital technologies and government support in aiding the same alongside the 5G technology implementation across the country is analyzed to boost the demand for telecom towers significantly.”
“In addition to these expansions and collaborations, the growing adoption of digital technologies and government support in aiding the same alongside the 5G technology implementation across the country is analyzed to boost the demand for telecom towers significantly.”
Mordor Intelligence highlights that the flourishing e-commerce and digital service platforms in Nigeria are significant drivers behind the escalating demand for dependable telecom services in the country.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted MTN’s request to partially disconnect Globacom (Glo) from its network owing to unsettled interconnect charges.
Reuben Muoka, the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, disclosed this in a document named ‘Pre-Disconnection Notice’ on Monday.
The move follows Glo’s persistent failure to clear its outstanding debts despite multiple attempts to resolve the issue.
Under this partial disconnection, Globacom subscribers will solely receive calls from MTN users, while retaining access to other network services like outgoing calls to other networks and data services.
However, they won’t be able to initiate calls to MTN users during this period.
The statement read, “All subscribers are, therefore requested to take notice that the Commission has approved the Partial Disconnection of Globacom to MTN in accordance with Section 100 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 and Paragraph 9 of the Guidelines on Procedure for Granting Approval to Disconnect Telecommunications Operators, 2012.
“At the expiration of 10 days from January 8, 2024, subscribers of Globacom will no longer be able to make calls to MTN but will be able to receive calls.
“The Partial Disconnection, however, will allow in-bound calls to the Globacom network,” it added
Nigerian telecommunication users, along with others within the country, expended a total of N3.33 trillion on various telecom services such as calls, data, SMS, and more throughout 2022, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This information comes from the recently published ‘2022 Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report’ by the NCC, which also revealed that telecom companies generated N3.33 trillion in overall revenue for that year.
The report further highlights a noteworthy growth of active voice subscriptions, rising from 195,463,898 subscriptions in 2021 to 222,571,568 by December 2022, marking a 13.86% year-on-year increase.
Commenting on the increase, it said, “The increase in the Operators’ subscriber base was attributed to a number of reasons which includes subscriber loyalty, promos, seasonal effects, aggressive consumer acquisition drive, and competitive product offerings across all the networks.”
It noted that the growth in active subscriptions impacted positively on other derived telecom indicators such as teledensity, Internet penetration as well as broadband penetration.
Data usage also continued its surge in 2022. It increased by 46.77 per cent to 518,381.78TB as of the end of the year.
The NCC stated, “There was an increase in the volume of data consumed at the year-end December 2022 when compared with the year-end December 2021.
“The total volume of data consumed by subscribers increased to 518,381.78TB as of December 2022 from 353,118.89TB as of December 2021. This represents an increase of 46.77 per cent in data consumption within the period.”
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