Telecoms sector adds N1.5tn to GDP, says NCC

The country’s telecommunications sector contributed N1.549tn to the Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of this year, representing 6.68 per cent increase from the first quarter’s figure of N1.452tn, the Nigerian Communications Commission has said.

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said on Thursday that the figures were derived from the recently released National Bureau of Statistics report on the economy.

He said, “The NBS report has confirmed that the telecommunications sector, during the second quarter of 2017, contributed 9.5 per cent to the GDP in contrast to 9.1 per cent contribution in the first quarter of the year.

“We are very proud of the remarkable contribution the sector is making. Even in recent times when the whole economy was facing challenges, the sector remained resilient and stable.”

Danbatta also said that the commission had noticed a “remarkable increase in data usage in the country,” adding that the Chairperson of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, Madam Angelique Weeks, and a team of administrators from the West Africa Telecommunication Regulators Association had noticed the development.
“The monthly data usage is about 40 million terabytes.”

He, however, expressed optimism that the country would undergo a massive Information and Communications Technology transformation by the time the excess data capacity at the landing point in Lagos was deployed to the hinterland through licensing of infrastructure companies.

On Internet access in the country, Danbatta said, “Broadband penetration in the country currently stands at 21 per cent, as Nigeria is inching toward 30 per cent penetration next year, which is in line with its national broadband target.

“The commission has approved spectrum trading consistent with an item of the eight-point agenda, optimising the use and benefits of spectrum, to ensure that no acquired spectrum is left unutilised.”