According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, there were 220,715,961 million active mobile subscribers in the nation as of August 2023.
This information was presented during the 18th Abuja International Trade Fair, which was held on Thursday in Abuja and was organized by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ACCI, by NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta.
The 12-day fair this year has “Sustainable Financing and Taxation” as its focus.
According to Mr. Danbatta, who was speaking on behalf of the Director of the Consumer Affairs Bureau, Umar Alkasim, there were 159,034,717 million active internet users worldwide as of August 2023, and broadband penetration was 45.57 percent.
According to him, the capacity of Nigerian firms to use new technology and have the essential digital skills to conduct business internationally is what determines how competitive they are.
Mr Danbatta said: “In Nigeria today, the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 220,715,961 million as at August 2023, while Teledensity stood at 115.63 per cent at the same period.
“Also, the number of active Internet subscribers was 159,034,717 Million with broadband penetration at 45.57 percent as at August, 2023.
“In this new environment, the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses depends on their ability to leverage new technologies by acquiring the necessary digital skills to do business on an international scale.
“This in turn benefits the economy financially.”
He said that NCC’s regulatory efforts in deepening access to digital services would benefit Nigeria and make it competitive and comparable with other economies in the areas of job creation and contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
“Emergence of new services and industries; workforce transformation; and business innovation.
“It is in our response to ensuring that Nigeria is competitive in all these areas that the commission continuously puts a number of regulatory measures in place to ensure seamless access by Nigerians to telecommunications services.
“This is in order to deepen the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy by making our businesses and industries digitally compliant,” the EVC added.
To sustain the steady growth of the telecoms sector, Mr. Danbatta said that NCC would continue to create a conducive environment.
He said that an environment that would stimulate the deployment of robust broadband infrastructure to improve the quality of service, QoS, and quality of experience (QoE) for telecom consumers, be it individuals or corporations.
“This is because, as a country, we need robust telecom infrastructure that will help our industries transition to becoming information and communication technology (ICT)-driven if we hope to be digitally competitive on the global stage,” Mr. Danbatta said.
Umar Alkasim, the director of the Consumer Affairs Bureau, had earlier reaffirmed the NCC’s commitment to ensuring fair competition and level playing fields for all sector participants.
Mr. Alkasim stated that the commission was defending the interests of consumers from abuse of their rights and privileges against unfair practices in the telecom service value chain. He was speaking on behalf of the NCC’s Head of Consumer Policy Development and Monitoring, Ayanbanji Ojo.
“This commitment is demonstrated by the commission’s continuous effort to establish seamless programmes that would Protect, Inform and Educate (PIE Mandate) telecom consumers through various consumer-centric initiatives,” he said.
