.Telecoms industry contributes N1.549trn to GDP in 2017 Q2
Miffed by the complaints of consumers about the poor services being rendered by the service providers in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed the service providers to live up to the expectations of their consumers or be sanctioned in accordance with the laws guiding the telecom industry.
Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, stated this during an interactive session with the media in Lagos on Monday.
Danbatta stated this just as he disclosed that as at the second quarter of last year (2017), the telecom sector contributed N1.549 Trillion to the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), pointing out that the performance was remarkable at a period of recession in the country.
The NCC EVC said part of the sanctions that may be imposed on the service providers that provide poor quality services to their consumers will include “publication of their Quality of Service (QoS) performances for observation of the members of the public”.
He said the Commission was engaging the service providers regularly with a view to tackling the quality of service challenges.
Danbatta also said the Commission was reviewing the National Economic Council’s recommendations on ways to eliminate multiple taxations and regulations that have created bottlenecks in the provision of services in different states of the federation.
“Constantly, ICT has large potential for the future economic development of the country. This is why we are consulting with governments at various levels, especially with the state governments to key into these huge potentials.
“This they can do by discouraging some of their officials , agencies and departments that create bottlenecks with multiple regulation and taxations, and denial of rights of ways that hinder fast deployment of infrastructure and services”, Danbatta stated.
On complementing economic growth which is part of the 8-Point Agenda of the Commission, the NCC Chief said telecommunications have made significant impacts in transforming the Nigerian economy.
He said: “According to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), IN THE 1st Quarter of 2017, it contributed N1.45 Trillion to the GDP. In the 2nd Quarter, the figure rose to N1.549Trillion. This performance at a period of recession is very remarkable.
“We are keeping dates with the NBS to identify and track how these trends progress. On the aggregate, the telecoms industry’s contribution to GDP in Nigeria stands at 10 per cent per annum in the past four years”.
According to Dambatta, the figures may not tell the story, but the investments in human and material resources have continued to rise.
He said in 2001, the telecom sector could boast of a mere $50 million dollars worth of investments, “but as at September 2017, we have investments worth $70 billion. The Value Added Service (VAS), segment of the telecom market in Nigeria today is worth $200million and is estimated to grow to $500 million by 2021”.
He further said the telecom industry has provided both direct and indirect employment opportunities, accentuated growth and expansion of Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SMEs).
Danbatta, who said some of the successes have not come without their challenges, like what 9Mobile faced, he, however, stated that “with the intervention of both the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation was saved the predicament of losing one of the key service providers”.
He said that as a telecom regulator that is well-known globally, NCC was conscious of its history and vision, adding that in subscription numbers, from less than 500,000 lines in 2001, “we have grown to more than 147 million recorded as at January 2018”
The NCC CEO also said teledensity, weighted by ITU formula of one line to 100 of population, while internet penetration has hit the 100 million mark as at January this year.
The EVC further said the Commission was not relenting in leading Nigeria to the realisation of pervasive broadband services, stating that within the threshold of the third year of the five-year 8-point agenda, the Commission has made satisfactory progress towards realizing the objectives of the agenda, ‘especially as it relates to broadband penetration”.
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