The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Professor Umar Garba Dambatta has revealed that as at independence in 1960, Nigeria had a paltry of 18,724 telecommunication lines to serve 40 million people in the country.
Dambatta, who was the Keynote Speaker at the dinner hosted by the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Media Merit Award, NMMA, to flag off the commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of NMMA as Africa’s foremost media excellence recognition institution, at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel on Tuesday, said the figure translated to teledensity of 0.5.
According to him, the telecommunication sector has witnessed a great development as there are currently 400,000 aggregate lines to serve about 209 million subscribers in the country with a teledensity of 109.47%.
Besides, according to him, basic Internet subscriptions had also grown from zero in the pre-liberalisation era to over 152 million, adding that the broadband subscriptions had now stood at 85 million, representing a 44.49% penetration.”
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Dwelling on the topic, “The NCC New Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP) 2021-2025: A Transformation Agenda”, which signposts the direction of the Nigerian telecom industry in the next five years, Danbatta recalled the trajectory of the evolution of telecoms in Nigeria, with reference to the nation’s showing of a paltry 18,724 telephone lines at independence in 1960 to serve a population of 40 million people, translating to a teledensity of 0.5, to the present time (as at July 2022), when “active telecoms subscribers have grown significantly hitting 209 million from about 400,000 aggregate telephone lines in the country on the eve of concrete deregulation in the year 2000.
“This represents a teledensity of 109.47%. Besides, basic Internet subscriptions have also grown from zero in the pre-liberalisation era to over 152 million. It is also gratifying that the broadband subscriptions now stand at 85 million, representing a 44.49% penetration.”
“Today, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector contributed 18.44 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2022. From this figure, telecommunications sector alone contributed 15 per cent,” Danbatta said to place on record the unprecedented contribution of the telecom and ICT industry to GDP.
Danbatta, also spoke extensively on the policy initiatives of the Federal Government and the continued support of the government as crucial to the accomplishment of the feat in the telecom industry. Giving an indication that the Board, Management, and staff of the Commission will not rest on their oars and will continue to re-engineer and promote innovations to make the nation harness benefits that are accruable in a digital economy.
The NCC Boss said the objective of the Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP) 2021-2025 is to consolidate the accomplishments of the Commission under the SVP 2015-2020, otherwise called The Eight Point Agenda, the forerunner of the SVP 2021-2025, in order to take the Commission to a greater height where it will make even more superlative contributions to the national economy.
He also commended media for creating awareness of the potential of telecommunications products and services is a credit to the media industry, which has partnered with the Commission in the regulatory process.
He noted that, “this is why the telecom regulator holds the media at very high esteem.”
Otherwise dubbed the SVP II, the new Strategic Vision Plan 2021-2025 is designed as a transformation agenda for Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. The EVC said it is the reason the new SVP’s focal objectives are to ensure: Organizational Renewal for Operational Efficiency and Regulatory Excellence; Facilitate the Provision of Infrastructure for a Digital Economy which fosters National Development; Promote Fair Competition, Inclusive Growth, Increased investment, and Innovative Services; Improve Quality of Service (QoS) for Enhanced Consumer Quality of Experience (QoE), and Facilitate Strategic Collaboration and Partnership.
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