Posted by Jonah Iboma on
Nigeria now has about 16million telephone subscribers, the Nigerian communications Commission has said.
Nigeria now has about 16million telephone subscribers, the Nigerian communications Commission has said.
According to the Executive Vice chairman, NCC, Mr. Ernest Ndukwe, the industry has witnessed an annual growth of over 100 per cent in her subscriber base since the issuance of digital mobile licenses in the country in 2001 and the eventual roll out of GSM services by two operators in the same year.
He revealed that with the development, Nigeria now has the highest number of fixed wireless penetration in Africa, with figures comparable with what obtains in the advanced countries.
But GSM mobile phones still dominate the phone use as they account for about 15million of the lines with fixed wireless accounting for one million.
Ndukwe, who spoke in Lagos at a seminar organised by the Joint Action Committee on ICT Awareness and Development, on the Challenges of Corporate Governance in the Telecommunications Sector, on Thursday, noted that despite the impressive growth in the sector, it was not all smooth sailing.
According to him, poor corporate governance practices had remained a major problem in the sector, as many companies were not running their businesses according to global management standards.
He said, 'Nigeria, no doubt has attracted the attention of the world because of the tremendous growth that has been witnessed in the ICT industry which can be summarised as follows: fully liberalized sector, annual growth of over 100 per cent in subscriber base, innovative approach to regulation and policy and using the world rather Africa for benchmarking. This has resulted in the generation of 16million lines, stable competition due to multiple operators and choice of network."
According to him, the running of companies without good work ethics had led to various problems in the sector.
He noted: 'We have seen both successful and not-so- successful telecommunications companies. We have also seen companies run on high ethical standards and values and others not run in similar fashion."
Ndukwe said that as result of this problem, many companies were owing huge sums of money to not only to those they purchase goods and services from, but also owing interconnect charges, spectrum fees, statutory fees and other financial obligations.
In a presentation at the forum, MTN put interconnect indebtedness at N16 million
Ndukwe said to ensure that the sector witnessed continued growth, the NCC may work with other agencies of government to ensure that telecommunication operators run their business in acceptable manner
THE PUNCH, Friday, August 12, 2005