The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said, on Thursday, in Lagos, that the country would need additional investment of over $68 billion to improve on the current state of the country’s ICT sector.
Chioma Okee-Aguguo , ATCON President Olusola Teniola, NCC EVC rep Mohammed Babajika at the ATCON event on Thursday
Though investment in the sector has increased from $60million in 2000, $32 billion in 2014, reaching the current level of $68 billion in 2018, achieving for Nigeria 172 million connected lines, over 40million Nigerians were yet to be reached with basic infrastructure and services, according to the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umar Danbatta.
He said the current profile of ICT investment has also brought about one hundred and nineteen (119) million Internet Subscribers as at April 2019, up from the one hundred and three (103) million Internet subscribers in 2018.
Danbatta spoke at the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON)’s Telecom Executives and Regulator Forum, where discussions focused on investment, OTTs, cyber security and cloud computing and counterfeiting.
He noted that additional investment into the sector was imperative if Nigeria must accommodate the over 40 million Nigerians yet to be reached with basic infrastructure and services.
He said: “Telecommunications constitute a significant portion of the world economy, as the global market value of the sector passed the USD2.5 trillion marks in 2010. Undoubtedly, everyone should be interested in the sector that generates such figures.
Therefore, robust telecommunications network is important for economic growth, which is achievable through investment.
According to him the NCC roadmap for broadband has created new frontiers for investment, while the quest for data and social media as well as the increasing value added services create new frontiers for investments.
Therefore, the desire for investment in the sector will continue to grow as the size of the network increases.
Danbatta who was represented at the event by Director, Policy competition and economic analysis, Mr Mohammed Babajika said that there was need for service providers to increase capital intensity of the industry, their infrastructure deployment to satisfy the increasing demand, and also create room for double the size of the investment in the next 10 years.
Combatting Fake ICT Devices
Danbatta also informed the telecom executives that the industry would soon deploy an end-to-end technology based solution known as Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) to combat the influx of cloned and fake ICT devices into the country.
He said the proposed MDMS will have the capacity to facilitate the mandatory registration of all SIM-based devices in Nigeria, block all stolen, counterfeit, illegal or otherwise substandard SIM-based devices from operators’ networks and interface with the Customs Service, Tax Authority, Security Agencies, Standards Organizations and other relevant agencies to ensure the full registration, payment of duties and taxes due on those devices and the protection of security and privacy of users in Nigeria.
The EVC also said the Commission is also working towards establishing a Cyber Security Incidence
Response Team (CSIRT) exclusively for the Telecommunications sector to complement the ngCERT by handling and coordinating Cybercrime incidences in the sector.
The CSIRT will also facilitate intervention, swift identification of threats and vulnerabilities and the sharing of valuable information and resources to assist in fortifying Nigeria’s national security.
