During the first three months of 2023, the industry of telecommunications and information services in Nigeria contributed an impressive N2.508 trillion in terms of financial value to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is equivalent to 14.13 percent of the sector’s overall contribution.
Advertisements
According to figures that were made public by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the industry saw a performance gain of 4.3% when compared to its performance in the final quarter of 2022, when it saw a performance increase of 13.5%.
The increase exhibited a good trend when compared on a year-on-year basis, rising from 12.94 percent in the first quarter of 2022 to the figure of 14.13 in the first quarter of 2023, which is equivalent to an approximate growth of 9.19 percent.
Advertisements
The proportion that telecommunications contribute to the GDP was derived from the contributions of 46 individual economic sectors that make up “baskets” for “telecommunications and information services.”
The creative and predictable telecom regulatory framework that is being advocated and implemented by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, is being credited with the good attitude that has been shown by the Nigerian telecom industry, which has continued to exhibit a positive trend.
Advertisements
One of the major highlights of the performance of the telecom sector during the period was the generation of $820,8 million for the federal government from 5G spectrum licenses fees paid by three ultimate winning operators: MTN, MAFAB, and Airtel. This was one of the important highlights of the performance of the telecom industry during the period.
Both MTN and MAFAB have begun offering 5G services once the businesses were granted their respective licenses in December 2021. Airtel is getting ready to debut its services later this month, in June 2023. The company acquired its license in December 2022.
Another significant event that took place in the industry was the debut of the Starlinks broadband service, which is a satellite-based wireless broadband service that has the ability to cover the entire country.
This came about as a result of the Commission’s decision to grant a license to SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk. Currently, the services can be obtained at a number of locations across the nation.
In the meantime, the expansion rates of the telecommunications industry are revealing a remarkable track record of contributions to the economy.
As of April 2023, the total number of phone subscribers had reached 223.6 million, resulting in a teledensity of 117 percent.
During the same time period, the number of Internet customers was 157 million, while the number of broadband subscriptions stood at 92 million. This resulted in a broadband penetration rate of 48% across the country.