Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions has reached 220.7 million as of August 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said.
This is up by about 200,000 subscriptions from the 220.5 million recorded in the preceding month of July, as announced by the commission.
The commission’s July fugure represented 0.4 per cent growth when compared to the 219.7 million recorded in June.
The commission disclosed latest subscription data on Thursday at the ‘NCC Special Day’ to address consumer issues in the telecom industry at the ongoing 18th Abuja International Trade Fair.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Umar Danbatta, said “The number of active mobile subscriptions reached 220,715,961 million as at August 2023, while Teledensity stood at 115.63 per cent at the same period.”
Also, he said, the number of active internet subscribers was 159,034,717 million with broadband penetration at 45.57 per cent as at August 2023.
The commission disclosed this on Thursday at the ‘NCC Special Day’ to address consumer issues in the telecom industry at the ongoing 18th Abuja International Trade Fair.
Mr Danbatta, represented by Umar Alkasim, the director, consumer affairs bureau, of the commission said the commission recognizes the fact that the telecommunications sector has been a strategic driver of the digital economy agenda of the federal government, as it continues to provide the needed digital stamina to support the economy, especially through technology.
“It is no longer news that telecommunications empower individuals, connect businesses, strengthen industries and enable Governments to provide essential services efficiently thereby driving development and prosperity.
“Information Communications Technology (ICT) is not only one of the fastest growing industries directly creating millions of jobs but it is also an important enabler of innovation and development, as it provides the backbone infrastructure for transactional business and taxation for the government,” he said.
Challenges of maintaining digital infrastructure
However, Mr Danbatta said maintaining this digital infrastructure and its continued growth necessitates substantial investment.
He explained that sustainable financing in telecommunication involves sourcing the necessary capital to build and maintain robust telecommunications networks.
“As regulators, we understand that this financing should be stable, accessible and conducive for industry growth. Taxation while essential for funding government initiatives must strike a delicate balance between revenue generation and industry growth.
“Our role as regulator is to advocate for fair taxation practices that do not stifle innovation or place undue burden on consumers. We acknowledge the intricacies of tax policies but emphasise the importance of creating an environment where telecommunications companies can thrive,” he added.
The NCC official said to address these challenges the commission continuously engages both the federal and the state governments on the need to harmonize taxation in the telecommunications sector.
He further explained that the commission’s regulatory efforts in deepening access to digital services will benefit Nigeria and make it competitive with other economies in the areas of job creation, contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the emergence of new services and industries; workforce transformation; and business innovation.
“It is in response to ensuring that Nigeria is competitive in all these areas that the commission continuously puts a number of regulatory measures in place to ensure seamless access by Nigerians to telecommunications services in order to deepen competitiveness of the Nigerian economy by making our businesses and industries digitally compliant.
“In this new environment, the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses depends on their ability to leverage new technologies by acquiring the necessary digital skills to do business on an international scale. This in turn benefits the economy financially,” he said.
Growth of telecom sector
He added that the steady growth of the telecoms sector over the years with its pervasive positive impact on all other sectors of the economy in terms of increased automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery, had been remarkable.
He attributed tge growth to telecoms consumers “who are using the services daily”.
“To sustain this, therefore, the NCC continues to create a conducive environment that stimulates deployment of robust telecoms/broadband infrastructure for improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for telecoms consumers, be it individuals or corporates.
“This is because, as a country, we need robust telecoms infrastructure that will help our industries transition to becoming Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven if we hope to be digitally competitive on the global stage,” he said.
He noted that the commission iwad working assiduously with various stakeholders, the consumers, to see how more businesses can embrace digital platforms for delivering their services to the consumer.
“As a regulator, we also ensure we constantly inform you, the consumers, on how to be protected to prevent cases of online fraud or avoid consumers falling victims of cybercrime antics while in their legitimate use of the internet,” he added.
5G Network licences
Mr Danbatta said the commission was driving initiatives for the full deployment of the Fifth Generation (5G) network in Nigeria.
Already, he said 5G spectrum licenses have been issued to companies for rollout.
“It is important to state that the 5G network will bring substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities to communications services in Nigeria. I am happy to inform you that licensees have kicked off the commercial launch of the 5G network in some cities across the nation.
“NCC will continue to drive the remarkable digital transformation we are witnessing in our economy today. We also believe that with sustainable financing and fair taxation practices, we can ensure that the telecommunications sector remains resilient and continues to serve as the catalyst for progress in our interconnected world,” he said.