Despite Challenges Telcos Meeting KPIs—NCC

The latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that the four mobile network operators, MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile, are meeting their Quality of Service (QoS) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). According to the Nationwide QoS data released by the Commission, the telcos met their KPIs between July 2022 and June 2023. The operators’ performances are measured by the regulator based on parameters such as Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), and Traffic Channel Congestion (TCH CONG). According to NCC, these QoS standards ensure that consumers continue to have access to high-quality telecommunications services by setting basic minimum quality levels for all operators. Based on the latest report, all the mobile operators crossed the threshold of 98 per cent call setup success rate in the 12-month review period. The Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR) is calculated by taking the number of unblocked call attempts divided by the total number of call attempts. In terms of drop call rate (DCR), which is fixed at 1 per cent or less, all the operators performed well as they recorded less than 1 per cent drop calls in the period, according to NCC’s record. A dropped call is a call that is prematurely terminated before being released normally by either the caller or the called party. In terms of Traffic Channel Congestion, (Standalone Dedicated Control Channel Congestion SDCCH), all the operators also met the KPI as they all recorded less than 2 per cent congestion within the period. The regulator’s parameter in this regard is that the congestion rate for the networks should be equal to or less than 2 per cent. The Traffic Control Channel Congestion Rate is the probability of failure to access a traffic channel during call setup. The technical result of operators’ quality of service may, however, be different from the reality based on subscribers’ experience in the period covered by the report and even now. The President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr. Deolu Ogunbajo disagreed with the regulator. According to him, NCC is looking at the quality of service from the technical aspect and not from the subscribers’ angle. “The KPIs are measured technically and are far from the reality of what the subscribers are experiencing. We disagree with NCC on this. There are lots of complaints on Dropped calls, and even the call setup success rate is nothing to write home about. “There are times you want to call and the call is not just connecting, the call setup rate is poor, all is not well in terms of quality of service as the report suggests” he said. Based on the huge number of mobile subscriptions in the country, the minute percentage of errors allowed the operators to cover a large number of subscribers facing the quality of service challenge.

Telecom sector contributes N2.508trn to Nigeria’s GDP – NCC

The telecommunications and Information Services sector in Nigeria has, in the first quarter 2023, delivered a handsome N2.508 trillion in terms of financial value contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), representing 14.13 percent. Figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the sector recorded a 4.3  percent   increase from its performance in the last quarter of 2022 when it recorded 13.55  percent. When compared on a year-on-year basis, the growth showed a positive progression from 12.94  per cent  in the first quarter of 2022 , to the 2023 figure of 14.13, which is an approximate growth of 9.19  per cent.  The percentage of telecom contribution to GDP was calculated from 46 distinct sectors of the economy, which constitute telecom and information services baskets. The Nigerian telecom industry has continued its show of positive outlook, which is credited to the innovative and predictable telecom regulatory environment promoted, and implemented by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). One of the key highlights of the telecom industry performance within the period was the generation of $820.8 million for the federal government from 5G spectrum licences fees paid by three eventual winning operators, MTN, MAFAB and Airtel. Following the issuance of the licences in December 2021 to MTN and MAFAB, both companies have launched 5G services. Airtel, which received its licence in December 2022, is set to launch services this month, June 2023. Another major development in the sector was the launch of Starlinks broadband services, a satellite-based wireless broadband services with potential nationwide coverage. This followed the issuance of licence to Elon Musk-owned SpaceX by the Commission. The services are now available in different parts of the country. Meanwhile, the growth statistics of the telecom industry are showing an impressive record of contributions to the economy. The number of phone subscribers as at April 2023, stood at 223.6 million subscribers, scoring a teledensity of 117  per cent. Internet subscribers for the same period were 157 million while Broadband subscriptions stood at 92 Million, translating to 48  percent broadband penetration in the country.

MTN mulls price increase over ‘elevated inflation’

Telecoms group, MTN, has disclosed that it is planning to increase prices in some African markets due to the elevated inflation in the operating environment. Nigerian Anchor reports that the telecom company operates across 19 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. MTN disclosed this in its first quarter report filed with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Thursday. “We anticipate that trading conditions across markets will remain challenging for the remainder of 2023 and we will continue to execute on our proactive measures to manage the near-term challenges and risks. “Within this environment of elevated inflation, implementing selective price increases across the portfolio remains a critical priority to ensure that operations generate sufficient cash flows to fund future capital expenditure needed for building world-class networks. “We will continue to have the necessary engagements with the regulatory authorities on such needed increases,” it said in its outlook for the rest of 2023. The telecom company said that the blended inflation across its footprint remained elevated and averaged 18.5 per cent in Q1 2023, compared to 11.5 per cent in Q1 2022. Interest rates increased during the period as central banks acted to curb inflation. Higher inflation and interest rates weighed on consumers’ spending power and impacted business activity, the company said. “MTN’s resilient business model and operational execution enabled us to continue to successfully navigate difficult macroeconomic, geopolitical and regulatory conditions in Q1 2023. “Local currencies generally weakened against the dollar, and foreign exchange availability was limited in several of our key markets affecting the pace of capital expenditure and our ability to upstream dividends and management fees. “Over and above reduced economic activity in South Africa, MTN South Africa’s (MTN SA) network availability remained under pressure due to ongoing power outages across the country: there were approximately 90 days of load shedding in Q1 2023 compared to 14 days in Q1 2022,” the MTN Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, said in the statement. The Group spoke on the Nigerian market. MTN Nigeria drove strong commercial momentum in a challenging operating environment to deliver a strong financial performance in the period. “In addition to higher inflation and interest rates as well as challenges with the availability of hard currency liquidity, the Nigerian economy was also impacted by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s redesign and introduction of new naira notes from 15 December 2022. The limited availability of new notes resulted in cash shortages, which impacted customers’ ability to recharge through physical channels and transact within the MoMo agent network,” it said. MTN Group disclosed that in line with its Ambition 2025 strategy, it continuously assesses investments, to improve returns and reduce risk. Thus, MTN Group is evaluating an orderly exit of three operations in West Africa over the medium term; namely MTN Guinea-Bissau, MTN Guinea-Conakry and MTN Liberia. The Group has received an offer for our equity interests in these Opcos, from Axian Telecom, which is being evaluated. The company is also in the process of exiting Afghanistan through the sale of MTN’s entire shareholding to a wholly-owned subsidiary of M1. According to the report, MTN revenue rose 15.6 per cent to 53.83 billion rand ($2.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 45.69 billion rand in the first quarter of 2022, the company said. Total subscribers increased by 5.2 per cent to 290.6 million, active data subscribers up by 11.9 per cent to 140.4 million, Data traffic increased by 19.3 per cent to 3221.26 PB and fintech transaction volumes increased by 38.8 per cent to 4.1 billion.