NCC Targets 22% Telecom Contribution To GDP By 2027

The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) is set to increase the contribution of the telecommunication sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution to 22 per cent by the year 2027. The telecommunications sector contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased significantly to 16 per cent in the second quarter of 2023 from a 14.13 per cent contributed in the first quarter of 2023, and up from the 15 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2022, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Mr Aminu Maida who disclosed this in Lagos at a conference on how to reposition the nation’s economy said the Commission planned to increase the annual net revenue of the telecommunications sector to the Federal Government by 100 per cent over the next four years, achieve at least 15 per cent year-on-year increase in investments into the telecommunications sector. Another target set by the Commission according to him is to have a 50 per cent  improvement in Quality of Service (QoS) by the end of next year, and reduce the access gap in rural areas to less than 20 per cent by 2027. He said that the reimagining of the communication sector is driven by five pillarswhich are interwoven with each other to deliver on the goal of fostering economic growth and development. He said that these pillars which include policy, infrastructure, innovation, entrepreneurship and capital, trade, and knowledge, are the bedrock of the Strategic Vision Plan (2023 – 2025) and form the guide to channel our efforts to harness the potential of the telecommunications sector and drive positive change in Nigeria. He said the vision aimed” to accelerate the growth of Nigeria as a global technical talent hub and a net exporter of talent, to deepen and accelerate our position in global research in key technology areas and raise the complexity and dynamics of our economy by significantly increasing the level of digital literacy across Nigeria.” He said the programme which has already commenced  with over one million applications by potential trainees is expected to increase the level of digital and technical skills among Nigerians, especially young and middle-level talents, to 70 per cent by the end of 2027.  This he said will position Nigerians to productively contribute to the economy and place the country in the top 25 percentile of research globally in the key areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), IoT, Robotics, Blockchain, and Additive Manufacturing in keeping with the strategic plan unveiled by the Honourable Minister. Speaking further he said “We believe that attaining these targets will increase our pool of technically skilled persons to the global market. With more talents in these areas, we expect that potential employers of digital and technical skills in the international scene will begin to engage more Nigerians.”

Telcos Mull Legal Action Against Banks Over N130bn USSD Debt

The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), has said that it may take legal action against banks in order to recover their unpaid N130 billion Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). The National Chairman of the telecom operators’ umbrella group (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, said ALTON has decided to take the option of legal battle as the last resort, after several failed attempts to amicably resolve the indebtedness matter. He explained the issue of unpaid USSD debt was part of the association’s submission to the new Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, when the ALTON’s team paid a courtesy visit to him last week in Abuja According to him, the minister expressed his concern over the lingering issue of unpaid USSD debt and advised telecom operators to have an independent Think-Tank that would look at the issues surrounding telecoms operations in Nigeria and develop empirical data that would best explain the economic implications of the challenges. The ALTON President said: “The issue of USSD debt was discussed with the Minister, and he was quite concerned and worried that the matter has lingered for too long unresolved. “Since the matter has dragged for too long, the best bet is to withdraw the USSD service from the banks and challenge them to pay for the accumulated debt that has reached N130 billion as at September this year. To get this done, we are contemplating at going to court to resolve the matter. “The issue has lingered for too long and debt accumulated, and I think it’s time to go to court to address the issue. We are thinking so because every effort made by telcos and the government to make the banks pay their debt, has not yielded positive result. It has been like taking two steps forward and taking one step backward”, Adebayo added. He said telecom operators have a commercial service agreement with the banks several to provide them with the USSD service that would enable seamless financial transactions like money transfers through the mobile phones, lamenting that despite the agreement, the banks have refused to obey the terms of the agreement, which had provisions for third party intervention, that include legal action. “The agreement permits parties to go to anywhere, including law court to resolve issues. So instead of the continuous meetings that have not yielded results, we are contemplating taking the next line of action, which is to go to court,” he said.

60.3% Nigerian Telecom Subscribers Still Use 2G —NCC 

*4G Users Stand At Just 22% The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that as at August 2023, 60.3 per cent of telecoms subscribers in the country are still on 2G. The telecom industry statistics further show that 10 per cent of the over 220 million subscriptions were on 3G, a higher generation of network launched in Nigeria in 2007. 3G ushered in the use of video calls and had significantly higher data transfer, operating at a speed of up to 2mbs, and increased bandwidth compared to the 2G network. 3G is the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology which was first rolled out commercially in mid-2001 and was an upgrade over the 2G, 2.5G, GPRS, and 2.75G networks. According to the Commission, subscriptions for 4G, which the operators started rolling out in 2016 still stood at 28 per cent as of August, while the latest technology launched in 2022 accounted for 0.83 per cent of subscriptions in the country. While the operators said they have achieved over 80 per cent of 4G coverage, the slow pace of migration by subscribers is attributed to device constraints. Recently on the back of the company’s acquisition of a 3G license, the Chief Technical Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mohammed Rufai, also pointed out the fact that many Nigerians are still on 2G and 3G. “So, while we are investing in new technology, we must also maintain the other technologies that are needed by the people that use them and the people that don’t yet have the devices for the newer technologies. This is the reason why we are still investing in and expanding on the old technologies, and also because the spectrum, the license allocated by NCC, and the network resources that are used for 3G can also be used on other technologies in the future, so the investment is still usable for the higher technologies when the devices are ready.” Globally, the expansion of 5G has pushed internet service providers like AT&T and T-Mobile to shut down 3G services earlier in 2022, and most recently, Verizon and Vodafone have notified customers that they intend to cut off 3G-enabled devices from their networks from December 2022 and December 2023 respectively. At the moment, it has been succeeded by the launch of 4G, 5G, and most recently, a test run of 6G in China which is a super upgrade to the service.

NCC Introduces New Format To Fixed Lines Numbering

*New Format Takes Effect January 2024 The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in keeping with its responsibilities under the enabling law, the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, to manage Nigeria’s numbering resources, has announced a new numbering format for fixed lines. According to a statement signed by Director, Public Affairs NCC Reuben Muoka, Nigeria’s Fixed-Lines Numbering Format has changed from eight digits to 10 digits by adding “02” prefix before the existing fixed number. It said that from January 1, 2024, the new numbering format beginning with “02” prefix will be operational. It however, said the change only affects the Fixed Telephone Numbers.  “There is no change to the existing mobile numbering format,” it said. “The Commission hereby informs the public of the changes and also clarifies that existing numbers will continue to operate concurrently till the cut-over date of December 31, 2023. From January 1, 2024, the new numbering format beginning with “02” prefix will be operational. “In other words, the old and new number formats are allowed to run concurrently till the cut-over date (December 31, 2023). Thereafter (from January 1, 2024), the new fixed-lines format will assume full recognition across all networks.  “For example, in the new order, to dial the hitherto existing number, 09461700, please dial 02094617000. “Additional examples are: For Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano’s current number format of 014630643, 094630643, 084460643 and 064460643, will now be 02014630643, 02094630643, 02084460643 and 02064460643 respectively in the new numbering format. “The announcement is made to give expression to a key responsibility of the NCC and it is consistent with the practices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations arm supervising Information and Communication Technologies (ICT),” the statement read.

Telcos rake in N3.33trn revenue from data, other services —NCC

MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo, and other telecom operators made a whopping N3.33 trillion as revenue from calls, data, SMS, and other telecom services in 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said in its 2022 Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report. According to the commission, the total number of active subscribers increased from 195,463,898 subscriptions in 2021 to 222,571,568 active voice subscriptions as of December 2022, a 13.86 percent year-on-year increase. “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,” the commission said. 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, representing an increase of 46.77 per cent in data consumption within the period,” the report said.