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Tag: Telecoms sector

  • Telecoms sector creates over 500,000 jobs, says NCC

    Telecoms sector creates over 500,000 jobs, says NCC

    Since liberalisation in 2001, Nigeria’s telecom industry has created more than 500,000 jobs, transformed connectivity, and enabled economic growth, the sector regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said yesterday.

    In spite of this success story, the sector is heavily plagued with the dearth of requisite skilled manpower that could reverse the gain, the regulator, warned.

    Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, in his keynote at Stakeholders Consultative Forum on Skill Gaps in the Telecom Value Chain

    Theme: Bridging Nigeria’s Telecom Skills Gap: Empowering Indigenous Talent for Industry Growth, organised by the NCC at Raddisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, said studies, including the 2024 International Telecom Union (ITU) assessment of Nigeria’s digital economy, highlight that while employers require about 30per cent of advanced digital skills, only 11per cent of currently employed workers possess such skills.

    Represented on the occasion by the Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, Engr. Edoyemi Ogoh, the EVC said five critical roles – desktop/support technicians, data analysts, ICT engineers, software developers, and data scientists – make up 25per cent of jobs today, but lamented that 27per cent of these roles are already hard to fill, and 29 per cent more will be required in the next five years.

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    According to him, the skills required in the telecom value chain can be grouped into four categories which include Core Technical Skills – covering network engineering, 5G/6G deployment, fibre optics, spectrum management, and cybersecurity; Software and Data Competencies – including software engineering, AI, data science, cloud, IoT, blockchain, and analytics; Business and Strategic Skills – project management, regulatory compliance, policy, entrepreneurship, and digital business strategy; and Soft Skills – leadership, collaboration, communication, and adaptability in a rapidly evolving sector.

    Dr Maida said several issues fuel these skills gaps. They include capital flight due to reliance on expatriate skills; poor remuneration discouraging retention of local talent; limited education curricula aligned to industry needs; and high global demand luring skilled Nigerians abroad.

    He said the Federal Government has taken bold steps through the National Digital Economy Policy & Strategy (NDEPS 2020–2030) and the Strategic Blueprint (2023–2027), which target a 95per cent digital literacy rate by 2030. Beyond long-term strategies, several current initiatives are actively building Nigeria’s digital and telecoms workforce.

    “From the end of Federal Government and Agencies we see 3 million Technical Talent (3MTT): Training 3 million Nigerians by 2027 in AI, cloud, cybersecurity, software engineering, and more. Early phases saw 30,000 fellows trained across all 36 states and FCT, with over 1.8 million applications received;

    Digital States Programme: NITDA (National Information Technology Development Agency) is empowering 20,000 youths nationwide with digital literacy (content creation, marketing, productivity tools); the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS) that highlights the need to ensure there is a pool of AI professionals working in Nigeria and promoting skills and knowledge transfer; the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) which proposes the adoption of digital literacy through six core competency domains, and three proficiency tiers (basic, intermediate, advanced) in the national curriculum for digital literacy.”

    Dr Maida said from the NCC side too are initiatives such as the Digital Learning Initiative (DLI) that targets public secondary school students and teachers and provides digital devices and customised curriculum onboarded onto the digital platforms; Campus Innovation Entrepreneurship Program (CIEP) provides undergraduates with capacity building, entrepreneurship and innovation training; Advanced Digital Empowerment Tertiary Program (ADEPTI) provides advanced digital skills for tertiary institutions; Advanced Digital Awareness Program (ADAPTI) aims to bridge the digital information gaps that exists in the academia and facilitate remote research and learning between lecturers and students by providing computers, other ICT equipment; and Digital Awareness Program (DAP), which raises awareness, usage and application by the provision of desktop computers, and required accessories with renewable Internet bandwidth subscription.

    He said: “One of the DAP projects, in GDSS Malabu , Fufore LGA Adamawa, won World Summit on Information Summit (WSIS) 2025 Award in the Access to Information and Knowledge category. The ongoing NCC-NOKIA 4G and 5G training program is aimed at developing the technical skills of young Nigerians on the latest 4G/5G and emerging technologies; the Nokia-OMNIA Entrepreneurship Learning Platform (ELP), a 3 months virtual learning programme is designed at developing entrepreneurial skills of young Nigerians across the six geo political zones; USPF’s Digital Knowledge Centers that fosters ICT skills and provides access to digital resources for students, youths, and communities.”

    He said the operators and private sector are also contributing in this skill develop, citing Airtel Africa’s 3MTT Contribution which is committed to training 25,000 youths and awarding international tech scholarships, while supporting UNICEF-led digital learning platforms across 1,260 schools.

    Another is MTN Foundation which implements the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives of MTN Nigeria, provideing scholarships  through its MTN Science &Technology Scholarship (STS) for eligible students to study STEM subjects in tertiary institutions, it also supports blind students who wish to study any discipline under the MTN scholarship for the Blind (SBS). MTN also provides support for the top 10 scoring UMTE students.

    Another is the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Academy which was launched May 2025 and focuses on addressing the Nigeria’s telecom sector talent shortage and reduce dependence on foreign expertise and finally, IHS Digital Hub, an incubation and acceleration program designed to build an ecosystem to help nurture creative talents, drive technological innovations and entrepreneurship.

    “This forum is not just about identifying gaps; it is about building a bridge. The bridge that will carry Nigeria’s telecoms sector into the future – powered by indigenous talent that creates, maintains, and expands the digital infrastructure driving our nation’s digital economy,” he said.

  • Telecoms sector records $1.57b FDIs in three years

    Telecoms sector records $1.57b FDIs in three years

    The telecom sector has recorded total capital inflow or foreign direct investment (FDI) of $1.570 billion over the last three years.

    A report by the Policy Competition and Economic Analysis Department of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) indicated that FDIs into the industry in 2020 was $417.48 million as against $942.86 million recorded in 2019.

    This translated to a decline of 55.7per cent in capital importation year-on-year. The decline in capital importation was largely attributed by the operators to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that distorted global businesses and impacted businesses negatively.

    In 2021, FDIs into the telecoms industry were $753.04 million against $417.48 million as at  2020 while in 2022, FDIs were $399.91 million as against $753.04 million in the previous year.

    In terms of the sector’s contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), the report entitled: “Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report”, showed that it increased from 10.60 per cent in the fourth quarter 2019 to 12.45per cent in fourth quarter of 2020.

    The sector’s contribution to GDP increased from 12.45 per cent in the fourth quarter 2020 to 12.61per cent in fourth quarter of 2021 while in 2022, it increased from 12.61per cent to 13.55per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

    In the area of infrastructural development, the report noted that a substantial telecom infrastructure deployment was recorded in 2020 by telecom providers.

    During the period under review, a total of 33,832 towers were recorded from mobile and fixed operators as well as collocation and infrastructure companies. The operators also reported a total number of 36,998 base stations.

    Microwave coverage declined from 302,036km recorded in 2019 to 289,720.99Km as of 2020. This covers the mobile, fixed and other operators. Some operators recorded a decrease in the microwave coverage due to the decommissioning of backbone microwave links to accommodate increased and higher volumes of traffic.

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    The mobile fixed and other operators recorded a total of 194 Gateways in use in the industry as at December 2020 while fiber optics deployment stood at 94,547.82km-terrestrial fiber and submarine cable, as at December 2020.

    In 2021, a total of 35,136 towers were recorded from mobile and fixed operators as well as collocation and infrastructure companies. The operators also reported a total number of 114,412 base transceiver stations (BTS).

    Microwave coverage recorded in 2021 stood at 290,940.69km. This covers the mobile and fixed operators; the mobile, fixed and other operators recorded a total number of 99 Gateways in use in the industry as at December 2021 while fiber optics deployment stood at 86,057km (terrestrial fibre and submarine cable) as at December 2021.

    The following year, the report said a substantial telecom infrastructure deployment was also recorded by telecom providers.

    A total of 34,862 towers were recorded from telecom operators across the country while the operators also reported a total number of 127,294 base stations.

    Microwave coverage recorded in 2022 stood at 289,270.48km; a total number of 125 Gateways were in use in the telecom industry as at December 2022 while fibre optics deployment stood at 96,198 km (terrestrial fibre and submarine cable) in the same year.

  • Telecoms sector requires 38,000 new BTS

    A Nigerian firm, Pan African Towers (PAT) Limited, has said there is a 38,000 deficit of base transmission station (BTS) in the telecom sector requiring huge investment.

    It, however, said the introduction of colocation and infrastructure sharing by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has eased the task as it has taken a chunk of capital expenditure (capex) off the mobile network operators (MNOs).

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Wole Abu, who spoke on the sideline of the signing of $20 million infrastructure investment deal with Canadian firm, Watt Renewable Corporation in Lagos, said power constraints account for 70 per cent of the challenges being faced by MNOs in the country.

    He said: “Co-location is an imperative because it brings down the operating cost of an operator. And as we deploy them, they do not have to carry capex cost.  Yes they are collocating and collocation is an imperative. Nigeria is growing. Technology is shifting. When it was 2G, you had bigger towers, longer but as we go on in the Gs it becomes shorter.  5G is like a WiFi coverage. We need about 38,00 more towers to provide coverage in Nigeria. We are in position to provide that. Very soon, you will be seeing collocation in active towers.”

    The partnership will see Watt Renewable provide alternative energy solutions such as solar and other renewables to all towers owned and managed by PAT in Nigeria to help the latter reduce exposure by as much as 50 per cent.

    Speaking on the deal, Abu said the deal is significant, because “it’s a milestone in our journey of innovation, service delivery, and pushing Nigeria to the broadband target. This is at the forefront of the NCC’s agenda for setting up infrastructure company”.

    Abu said the deal will impact greatly and positively on the quality of service for both voice and data in the country. He cited the erratic power supply situation as one of the major challenges confronting telecoms operators in Nigeria, which appears not to be improving.

    He said the erratic power supply “is taking a huge chunk of money from the operators. “So, there is a need to act fast before we have issues. PAT and Watt Renewable Corporation deal will gladly address some of these lapses”, he said.

    Abu said PAT manages about 1,000 towers in Nigeria, which according to him, will double by year end, adding that the firm also has footprints in Ghana.

    Watt Renewable Chief Executive Officer, Oluwole Eweje, also said the partnership is an infrastructure based one, adding that the Nigerian subsidiary will provide alternative power supply to PAT to help it cut expenses on electricity generation by half.

    Eweje said: “We are not just providing power to a business, what we are also doing is to use that as an anchor station to provide power to communities that are without power within the country. We are looking at connecting at about 4,000 new connections, businesses and residential homes. PAT has towers across the country, even in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. We shall be providing them with the facilities.”

    He added: “We have been working on this project since last year before we concluded recently. It is a $20 million (N7.2 billion) deal. It is a long term project. We have got some international investors on this for us. In the first phase, about 45 sites will be rolled out; we are targeting growing organically in the country.”

    Director of Investor Relations, Watt Renewable, Sherisse Alexander, who spoke on the development, noted that for improved services, partnership between telecoms operators and power firms are critical to the development of telecoms sector in Nigeria.

    PAT Financial Controller, Seun Fajebe explained that it is a partnership where the tower firm needs not put money down because there are investment partners.

  • Predatory pricing hurts telecoms sector, says Dambatta

    Predatory pricing hurts telecoms sector, says Dambatta

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said predatory, discriminatory and excessive pricing will hamper the development of the telecoms sector. It warned that margin squeeze and price fixing among others, will also stultify growth of the telecoms sector.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Prof Umar Dambatta, who spoke at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Lagos Campus, Cappa, Oshodi, at a forum organised by the commission on Cost-based Pricing for Retail Broadband and Data Services, said the Commission was happy with the phenomenal growth recorded in the industry, especially in active voice subscriptions, stressing that the next critical phase is to ensure  that  everyone  –  wherever  they  live  and  whatever  their  circumstances – have access to the benefits of broadband.

    He said this could only happen with the pervasive deployment of broadband infrastructure and services across the country considering the potential of broadband as a key enabler of national productivity, economic growth and development, social inclusion and cultural enrichment.

    “The  affordability  and  accessibility  of  broadband  services, however, is largely  determined  by  the  prices  that  are  charged  for  those  services.  Therefore, ensuring that prices charged for retail broadband and data services are cost based in line with international best practices is critical to the deployment and uptake of broadband and data services in Nigeria.

    “While addressing  market  dominance  issues  in  the  upstream,  wholesale  markets  is one of the ways to facilitate competitive price levels in retail broadband access  and service markets, it is possible that such action may not be a sufficient constraint on pricing in all segments of a retail broadband market, as such some form of ex-ante regulation of retail prices is appropriate or even necessary,” he said.

    Prof Dambatta said in line with the Commission’s mandate of creating an enabling environment and promoting fair competition in the telecoms industry and in line with the strategic objectives of the National Broadband Plan (NBP), it has therefore, become imperative to develop a proper pricing structure for broadband in Nigeria.

    According to him, this will not only ensure the affordability and availability of broadband, but also ensure fair competition by checking price discrimination, excessive pricing, predatory pricing, margin squeeze and price fixing among other things.

    He said this has therefore, necessitated the conduct of the study on the determination of cost based pricing for retail broadband and data services in Nigeria.

    The Commission, he said, carried out a thorough selection process and appointed Messrs’ KPMG to, among other things, set guidelines for the regulation of the pricing of retail broadband and data services in Nigeria and specifically determine price cap and floor where necessary; develop a regulatory pricing model based on the peculiarity of the Nigerian broadband and data services market coupled with international best practices; design the framework for collation of data that will be used for the determination; determine the appropriate cost modeling technique and methodology to be adopted and determine the appropriate pricing regulatory measures to be adopted.

    Others are to determine the need for ex-ante and ex-post regulation with respect to pricing in the retail broadband and data market segments; develop a suitable definition of big and new entrant/small operators, if necessary;  conduct a general assessment of the retail broadband/data market segment with a view of determining the appropriate methodology to be adopted and design a cost model that is suitable for determining retail prices for broadband and data services, taking into cognisance the macro-economic, technology and technical relevant factors.

     

     

     

  • $4b telecoms sector investment coming from India

    The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said the country has secured over $4 billion telecoms investments from India.

    Shittu who was head of delegation to the just concluded World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2017 in  Switzerland, while making his presentation at one of the sessions on the various business opportunities that beckons in the nation’s telecom sector and the need for investors around the world to take full advantage of Nigeria’s strategic relevance and positioning in Africa, extended a hand of fellowship to Indian investors and leading telecom stakeholders.

    Shittu said the government’s new capabilities, transparency and the new set of business ethos under President Muhammadu Buhari, are the impetus required for investors to be engaged in legitimate businesses without let or hindrance to get adequate returns on their investments.

    During a meeting with  business men and investors, a couple of Indian entrepreneurs offered to pull resources together in excess of $4 billion for the telecom sector with emphasis on rural telephony and grassroots development.

    The two parties are due to meet next month to fine tune the necessary modalities.

    Meanwhile, other countries with technical expertise have also indicated interest to assist the country over satellite capabilities, so as to expand the horizon of NigComSat.

  • Bridging budget deficit through telecoms sector

    Bridging budget deficit through telecoms sector

    The Federal Government is thinking of ways to bridge the N2.36 trillion deficit in this year’s budget proposal. It hopes to finance the deficit mainly by borrowing about N2.32 trillion. About N1.067 trillion or 46 per cent of this borrowing will come from external sources; N1.254 trillion will be borrowed from the domestic market. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) are cross pollinating ideas on how to improve revenue generation to reduce the government’s debt burden, LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Nigeria’s budget gap will probably be larger than Federal Government’s estimates this year because revenue from taxes and state companies will be lower than forecast.

    In Article IV report that followed meetings with Federal Government officials, it said the budget deficit may reach 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, higher than President Muhmmadu Buhari’s projected gap of 2.8 per cent.  The gap was 2.8 per cent last year, preliminary estimates show. It was 4.7 per cent on a consolidated basis.

    “The larger deficit would likely have to be financed domestically, further raising yields and crowding out private-sector credit,” the IMF said.

    Buhari’s N7.3 trillion ($23.1 billion) budget for this year to boost infrastructure investment and help the ailing economy recover from a contraction of 1.5 per cent last year, the first such slump since 1991. The economy was weighed down by a drop in the price and output of oil, its biggest export, which led to dollars crunch.

     

    Revenue target

     

    According to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the government has a revenue target of N2 trillion from oil and N1.37 trillion from non-crude sources including tax collections.

    While the government is undertaking tax reforms under the new seasoned tax master, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRSC), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, to increase revenue collection, the impact of those measures will be gradual, the IMF’s Mission Chief in Nigeria, Gene Leon, said on a call with reporters.

    Although the naira has fallen 36 per cent against the dollar since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) removed a peg in June, investors say Governor Godwin Emefiele is preventing it from dropping further through trading and import restrictions and regular sales of foreign exchange.

    The currency is as much as 20 per cent overvalued, Leon said. A depreciation of that size would take it to about 390 per dollar, almost matching the black-market rate of 398.

    The average yield on the government’s naira-denominated debt has risen 424 basis points over the past year to 16 per cent, the highest level among 31 major emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg after Egypt.

    Nigeria will probably raise debt from more Eurobond sales this year, the IMF said. These, together with concessional financing from the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), will make up 60 per cent of external debt. The government will also issue 10-year promissory notes equivalent to 2.2 per cent of GDP to settle domestic arrears, it said.

    This debt is in addition to a $500 million Eurobond sold last month as part of the 2016 budget and $1 billion raised in February.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 21-year $1.3 billion loan with the World Bank, AfDB and other institutions at two per cent, Finance Minister Mrs. Kemi Adeosun told reporters in the capital, Abuja. The money will be used for the new Development Bank of Nigeria that will lend small businesses long-term funding.

    The Federal Government said it expects budget-support loans of at least $1 billion from the World Bank, and a final, $400 million portion of a $1 billion credit facility from the AfDB.

     

    NCC, FIRS initiative

     

    Already, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimates that the telecoms sector contributes about 11 per cent to the GDP but desirous of improving the level of efficiency in tax management and revenue generation through deployment of technology, the NCC and FIRS has set up a Revenue Quality Assurance Committee (RQAC) for the telecommunications sector.

    This was the highpoint of the discussions between Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta and Fowler after a courtesy visit of the tax czar to the NCC Headquarters.

    Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Tony Ojobo, said the joint committee with four members each from the two organisations was to specifically examine and suggest ways through which the level of transparency could be attained via technology in tax management for FIRS and the returns from Annual Operating Levy (AOL) for the NCC.

    The Joint Committee, which is scheduled to meet this week, he added, should also see how workers matters, including payments are addressed. It is also to audit the states and explore the benefits accruable to them in terms of taxes collected.

    The Joint Committee is expected to work out a recommendation to facilitate the Type Approval of telecoms equipment that can be used for a transparent assessment of the operators’ revenues.

    Danbatta expressed concerns over the shutting down of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in the states indiscriminately without recourse to the Commission.

    “This is worrisome as it undermines the capacity to provide telecom services, thereby denying consumers good quality of services,” he told Fowler.

    The EVC cited the resolution of the National Economic Council (NEC) on Multiple Taxation, Levies and Charges on ICT Infrastructure in Nigeria dated March 21, 2013, saying the document is very clear on the issues of multiple taxations, levies, Right of Ways (RoWs) among others.

    Danbatta appealed to the FIRS chief “to help propagate the provisions of the policy to the Joint Tax Board (JTB)”, which he chairs.

    Fowler had earlier expressed worries over the taxes being collected from mobile network operators (MNOs) in the states.

    According to him, the concern stemmed from the fact that MNOs do not remit the Value Added Tax (VAT) already charged as at when due. “While some decide when they will remit it, the law stipulates that such taxes must be remitted to the FIRS between 20/21 of each month. Some too have not fulfilled the annual returns,” he lamented.

    In an earlier working document sent to the Commission, the FIRS had requested the permission of NCC to connect its equipment to the MNOs networks for a direct interface to which Prof. Danbatta had responded that such equipment must go through the Type Approval process.

    He said the NCC sees collaboration with the FIRS as a decision in the right direction.

    This, he added, underscores what  Buhari said about the collaboration of inter-governmental agencies, which saw to the timely completion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja ahead of the time schedule.

  • Telecoms sector Q2 GDP contributions hit N1.58tr

    Telecoms sector Q2 GDP contributions hit N1.58tr

    In real terms, the telecoms sector contributed N 1.58trillion (N1,580 billion) to gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year, or 9.8 per cent, which represents an increase of 1.0 per cent points relative to the previous quarter, latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have shown.

    According to the agency, this is the largest contribution to GDP made from the sector in the rebased period, which emphasises that growth in telecoms has remained robust when compared to total GDP. However due to differing seasonal patterns, the contribution from sector is usually the largest in the second quarter, NBS noted.

    It said although growth in the telecommunications sector remained positive, in contrast with the economy as a whole, year on year growth nevertheless dropped in real terms from 5.0per cent in the previous quarter to 1.5 per cent, the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2011.

    The share of telecoms in total real GDP had declined throughout 2010 to 2014, but for the last five quarters growth in the sector has been higher, meaning the trend has reversed.

    The total number of subscribers has increased rapidly over the past decade; at the end of 2005 there were 19,519,154 subscribers, but by the end of 2015 there were 151,017,244, which is equivalent to an increase of 13,149,809 every year. However, growth has been declining more recently, possibly as a result of high market penetration leaving less room for large expansion.

    In June this – the end of the second quarter – there were 149,803,714 subscribers compared with 148,775,410 in June last year, which represents an increase of 0.69 per cent. The yearly increase in total subscriber numbers has been decreasing steadily for the past year; in June last year the year-on-year increase was 12.05 per cent. However, after falling between January and April this year, the number of subscribers began to increase again, and in June the number was 0.71 per cent higher than at the end of the first quarter in March.

    NBS said this increase is despite a sharp drop in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) subscribers; between June last year and June this year, the number fell from 2,105,981 to 454,092, a decrease of 78.44 per cent. Although CDMA remains the second most popular technology type, this decrease has meant that the global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology type has entrenched its position as the dominant provider of mobile subscriptions.

    It explained that subscriber data was broken into four sections according to the technology type used. The first two are for mobile technology; GSM and CDMA, whilst the latter two are fixed lines, either wireless or wired. Mobile subscribers using GSM dominate, and accounted for 99.58 per cent of the total in June this year, followed by CDMA with 0.30 per cent of the total, while fixed wired and wireless make up 0.08 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively. “The dominance of GSM users has increased since June 2015 when 98.46 per cent of subscribers used this technology type,however this increase was largely as a result of the decline in CDMA users over the second quarter of 2016. The proportion of subscribers using fixed lines has remained broadly stable over the past year, albeit at very small levels.

    “The dominance of GSM over CDMA in the mobile technology is characteristic worldwide; GSM accounted for over 80 per cent of the global market in 2009 Q2 according to industry estimates. With GSM technology, it is cited as being easier to switch networks, and it is regarded as being more accessible for international use, especially given that some markets (such as in Europe) have mandated the technology by law. However, CDMA is more prevalent in the United States,” the NBS noted.

    In June this year, the total number of GSM subscribers was 149,179,083, an increase of 2,692,267, or 1.84 per cent relative to June last year. In both percentage and absolute terms, the year-on-year increases in GSM subscriber numbers have been falling steadily over the past 12 months. In March this year, the year-on-year growth rate was 4. 06 per cent, and in June last year, the rate was 12.22per cent. However, the number of GSM subscribers increased throughout the second quarter of 2016, from 146,866,356 in April.

  • IHS Towers invests $4b in telecoms sector

    The largest mobile telecoms infrastructure provider in Middle East, Africa (MEA), and Europe, IHS Towers, has invested $4billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecoms sector over the last decade of its operation. It has also spent over $5 million in upgrading its facilities in Nigeria in the last one yea, it has said.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/Group CEO, Issam Darwish, who spoke in Lagos at the unveiling of a report titled: Power Up: Delivering renewable Energy in Africa, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by the firm, said IHS Towers would continue to invest in infrastructure upgrade and expansion to redefine end users’ experience on telephone network.

    He said one of the solutions to quality of service (QoS) problem in the country is outsourcing, which allowed telcos to focus on their core areas of competence, leaving the headaches of powering and maintaining base transmission stations (BTS) to another organisation that possesses the competence.

    Darwish said coverage and capacity are two major problems associated with QoS in the country. According to him, coverage has been a major challenge in the rural areas where returns on investment has made it unattractive for telcos to build infrastructure. He, however, added that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) has intervened to solve the problem.

    He also said lack of equipment is also a factor as technology transits from 2G, 3G to 4G, adding that studies have shown that there is a deficit of some 20,000 BTS in the country. He added that investment is still needed to bridge existing infrastrusture gaps in the industry.

    Speaking on why the firm sponsored the study, he lamented that the power sector has continued to pull Africa back from attaining its full potential, accounting for between 15 and 20 per cent of operating cost of the manufacturing sector. He said for IHS Towers that has power at the centre of its operation, it was imperative to think about alternative source of green power.

    He said the key findings showed that renewables must play a greater role in Africa’s energy mix. The case for building renewable energy infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa is stronger than ever and positive experiences in lead markets such as South Africa and Kenya highlight successful strategies and best practices. However, Africa requires up to $90 billion of investment annually to meet its current energy shortfall, it added.

    According to the report, the African renewables sector resembles the mobile phone sector of a decade ago. “It has the capacity to leapfrog heavy infrastructure with a larger-than-assumed market, the emergence of smart business models and improved technology. However, long-term renewable procurement programmes are needed to build the greenfield infrastructure necessary. There has been huge growth in technology sales and financing innovation.”

     

  • Rural inaccessibility to slow down telecoms sector in Africa

    Africa’s fast-growing mobile phone subscription rate is expected to slow sharply in the next five years, a development that has surprised some stakeholders closest to the industry, Reuters reports in eNCA.

    African mobile subscriptions grew 13 per cent from 2010 to 2015, and they’ll continue to grow, but slower — at an expected rate of six per cent from 2015 to 2020 — according to a new report by global industry body Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA). That six-per cent growth will likely add 135 million subscribers, ITNewsAfrica reports.

    The report says the slowdown will be partly due to lack of commercial logic in setting up network coverage in some rural areas, where more than half the population lives, Reuters reports.

    The slowing subscriber growth underscores the existence of significant barriers to the take-up of mobile services, according to ITNewsAfrica. In addition to a lack of business confidence in rural areas, these include cost, coverage, income levels and technical literacy.

    Sub-Saharan Africa bypassed Latin America for unique subscribers in 2014, becoming the world’s third-largest growth region after Asia Pacific and Europe. It now accounts for 10 percent of the global subscriber base, ITNewsAfrica reports.

    It’s not economically viable for mobile phone companies to deploy their networks in some areas — especially remote, rural communities — because of low spending power of people living there, said Mortimer Hope, GSMA’s Africa director.

    “I am bit surprised by this development,” Hope told Reuters. “I expected strong growth to continue because the penetration rate in Africa is still well below 100 percent.”

    Expect more mergers and acquisitions as competition heats up and subscription rates go down in African mobile markets, Hope said.

    “Smaller players don’t have the economies of scale to drive their prices down and compete for long periods, so you’ll probably see some consolidation in the market,” he said.

    Recent M&A activities include United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat selling Zantel, its struggling Tanzanian mobile phone business, to Sweden’s Millicom in June.

    South Africa’s Vodacom bought fixed-line operator Neotel, which struggled to compete against larger rival Telkom.

    By 2020, more than 500 million people — about half the African population — will have subscribed to a mobile service compared with the global average of almost 60 percent, according to the GSMA report.

    Mobile regulators and operators must act to reduce barriers to mobile uptake so the unconnected can get the benefits of mobile.

     

    Between now and 2020, 40 per cent of the new subscribers are expected to come from Ethiopia and Nigeria, two of the most populous countries in the region. Mobile penetration is now 23 per cent in Ethiopia and 31 per cent in Nigeria.

    Other countries expected to have strong subscriber growth include Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.

  • NCC decries multiple taxation in telecom sector

    NCC decries multiple taxation in telecom sector

    The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has said efforts have reached advanced stage to address the issue of multiple taxation in the industry.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta stated this shortly after a meeting with States Desk Officers on Universal Service Provision Fund  (USPF) at the Commission’s head office in Abuja Tuesday.

    Professor Danbatta said the commission was being inundated with complaints from service providers on multiple taxation from the federal, states and local government councils in the country.

    This, he noted, would not allow speedy growth and development of telecommunication infrastructures as the number of subscribers increase on daily basis across the nation.

    He maintained that under his leadership, the NCC would ensure considerable improvement in quality of service and other parameters, stressing that broadband penetration though low in sub-Saharan Africa would be improved upon with time.

    Professor Danbatta said: “Now the fact that we are leading (broadband penetration) and if you translate the penetration rate that is normally provided in percentage into numbers then you will find over 130 million Nigerians with access to GSM services and of course these very high number of subscribers come with its challenges in terms of the degradation of quality of services.

    “The more subscribers you have the more the telecomm services are stretched. They are not stretched above the limit but there is need for urgent measures to be put in place to avoid a situation where we are in like today. Something needs to be done urgently and these measures are measures that the commission can consciously put in place to address the quality of service through making sure that telecoms infrastructure is not vandalized.

    “And through the protection of our telecommunication infrastructure, through facilitating the Right of Way which is something that has to do with gaining access to sites and locations where we need to lay infrastructure like fibre cables. We also need to address the issue of multiple taxation at the federal and state levels and as well as at the local government level as various form of taxation are being introduced and the telecomm services providers are complaining about these multiple taxations.

    “So these are things that the commission can do on its own and the second category is to prevail on operators to expand by way of having more infrastructure to be able to address the high number of subscribers to sort of accessing their services and the way to do that is also by intervening by introducing subsidy to encourage the service providers to go into provision of telecomm infrastructure which is capital intensive.”

    He said the Universal Service Provision Fund was established “based on the recommendation of the ITU that all countries and regulators like NCC should set aside certain percentage of what we called annual operation levy which is 40 percentage.

    “This is normally set aside to drive the activities of USPF so there are resources available but it is the question of making sure that these resources are used to provide telecommunication services in the areas where telecommunication operators wouldn’t want to venture into.

    “So consciously speaking the USPF is intended to address this and as the unwillingness of operators to go into areas and we have define this as rural areas that are underserved or un-served of telecommunications services so when you undertake projects like the School Knowledge Centres, it can be in such places where people in the rural areas can go and learn one or two things about ICT to enable them do activities that are multifaceted,” Professor Danbatta stated.