- …mobile subscribers hit 172m, Internet users 141 million, broadband subscribers 105 million
The federal government has commenced a comprehensive review of telecommunications industry policies to attract foreign direct investments, improve quality of services and align with evolving technological developments and innovations in the digital ecosystem.
The policies are to address gaps in the 2003 Act, take care of contemporary issues in the industry and make future projections predictable.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Wada Maida, said the Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani is driving the review.
According to Dr Maida, the review becomes imperative given the global outlooks and dynamics of the telecommunications sector and the need to ensure that critical stakeholders, the government, consumers and Mobile Network Operators, (MNOs) are on the same page on regulatory issues, enforcements, quality of services, profitability, competition, investments and safety of internet space.
Dr Maida who addressed reporters at Fraiser Suites Hotel, Abuja, on happenings in the industry, said the Commission has noted with concern perceptions of consumers on data depletion, quality of services, tariff increase and the imperative of holding accountable service providers in the industry.
He said from research/study recently conducted by KPMG on behalf of the Commission, it was discovered that consumers’ data are not depleted by Service Providers, stressing that data depletion is occassioned mostly by the types of phones devices and applications being used by consumers.
He assured that by the time the review of policies are delivered, the sector would attract more investments and ensured increased revenues to the coffers of government.
The NCC boss also said President Bola Tinubu has abolished the idea of 5 percent exercise duty on telecom sector which was suspended by the previous administration, and clarified that Value Added Tax (VAT) still stands at 7.5 percent.
He said the industry within the two years of his appointment has witnessed growth, ensuring accountability and transparency in the ways things are done, while consumers now have opportunities to make informed choices on data consumption due to the NCC’s policy on data simplification by MNOs.
He said Mobile Network subscribers has peaked at 172 million, broadband subscribers at 105 million and internet subscribers at 141 million, while investments in the sector has been far more than the figures ( 1 billion dollars) he gave at a recent public engagement.
“This engagement is a response to calls for increased interaction with NCC’s leadership. You spoke, and we listened,” said Dr. Maida.
Outlining several significant developments in the industry, Dr Maida listed tariff adjustments and simplification, the launch of corporate governance guidelines and the successful conclusion of the NIN-SIM linkage audit by the NCC.
He further listed the resolution of USSD debt issues and transition to end-user billing and the introduction of the Major Incident Reporting Portal as parts of the achievements of his leadership.
Speaking of developments in the sector, Dr Maida said: “In the early 2000s, we were regulating voice and text. Now we’re in the information age, with over 1,000 licenses under our purview. Scaling the old model is impractical. We are now complementing regulation with transparency and data-driven competition.”
The NCC boss further explained that the NCC is adopting information disclosure strategies rooted in behavioral economics to nudge service providers toward improved performance.
He announced several consumer-focused initiatives: a public map of network performance to be launched by September, offering transparent access to real-time quality metrics (e.g., download speed, latency) as well as Quarterly network performance reports based on crowdsourced user data.
He disclosed that expansion of accountability beyond mobile network operators to include co-location service providers (TACOs), responsible for infrastructure reliability remains a cardinal priority.
“We see corporate governance as a powerful lever for industry transformation. Transparent, well-governed companies attract investment and perform better. We’re setting the foundation for a Nigerian telecom company that is wholly owned, well-run, and globally competitive,” he said.
The EVC also provided updates on the NCC’s responses to top consumer complaints, such as Quality of Service (QoS), saying that Revised QoS guidelines now include infrastructure providers, with bi-weekly reviews and network improvement plans in motion.
He pointed out that another major issue is the Failed Top-Ups of data, asserting that a joint NCC-CBN task force has developed a new operational framework to standardize electronic recharge processes.
Dr. Maida appealed to the media for fair, fact-based reporting, particularly on the Commission’s reform efforts.
The Director of Consumer Affairs, Freda Bruce-Bennett shared practical tips to help Nigerians manage their data usage more effectively, including turning off autoplay on social media apps and limiting background data consumption.
In her address, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, Director of Public Affairs, underscored the Commission’s commitment to deepening its relationship with the media, describing journalists as “critical stakeholders” whose roles are taken very seriously by the Commission.
She emphasized the importance of forums like this as valuable platform for two-way communication, allowing the Commission not only to share its policies but also to obtain feedback from the media.
