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Telecoms Overview
The Nigerian telecoms market is the biggest and fastest growing in Africa, and the eighth fastest growing in the world. Liberalisation of the market, a strong independent regulator and dynamic growth from mobile operators has brought about steady growth since the start of the decade. Telecoms has attracted USD18 billion in investment since the first mobile networks launched in the country in 2001, with USD12 billion coming from foreign investors and USD6 billion coming from in-country investors. In April 2010, teledensity had reached 56.3%, up from just 0.73% in 2001. The Nigerian Communications Commission predicts that teledensity will reach 90-100% by 2020.
Government Policies and Regulation
The telecoms industry was liberalised in 1999, following the establishment of the sector’s independent regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 1992. In 2003, the Nigerian Communications Act reduced the role of the Ministry of Information and Communications to policy-making, thus giving the NCC the power to regulate the industry without intrusion. In 2006, the NCC introduced technology-neutral Unified Access Service Licences (UASL), so that providers can offer fixed, mobile and data services using the technology of their choice.
Nigeria’s telecoms policy was formulated in 2000, and to bring it into line with developments since then, the Ministry of Information and Communications is in the process of redrawing the policy. The government has identified several key policy areas to be addressed: these include the phased adoption of sustainable energy in telecoms, to counter the high energy costs that are adding to operating expenditure and being passed on to subscribers. Other policy directions include the merger of the NCC with the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), to take into account the changing nature of modern media, the introduction of number portability and the reduction of interconnection charges. The government is also focussing on the need to deploy infrastructure to rural areas and to improve broadband capacity across the country. To this end, the government set up a Rural Communication Programme to make sure that no Nigerian is more than a day’s walk away from a telephone. The Wire Nigeria (WiN) initiative has made advances in rolling out fibre optic cable across the country, and the almost-completed State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) is extending wireless broadband access to all 36 of Nigeria’s state capitals.
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