The telecoms and information services sector in Nigeria provided an impressive N2.508 trillion in terms of financial value contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2023.
This figure represents 14.13 percent of the nation’s total GDP.
According to figures that were made public by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the industry saw a performance increase of 4.3% when compared to its performance in the final quarter of 2022, when it saw a performance growth of 13.55.0%.
The increase exhibited a good trend when compared on a year-on-year basis, rising from 12.94 percent in the first quarter of 2022 to the figure of 14.13 in the first quarter of 2023, which is equivalent to an approximate growth of 9.19 percent.
The proportion that telecommunications contribute to the GDP was derived from the contributions of 46 individual economic sectors that make up “baskets” for “telecommunications and information services.”
The creative and predictable telecom regulatory framework that is being advocated and implemented by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is being credited with the good attitude that has been shown by the Nigerian telecom industry, which has continued to exhibit a positive trend.
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Impacts of telecommunications in Nigeria
One of the major highlights of the performance of the telecommunication sector during the period was the generation of $820,8 million for the federal government from 5G spectrum licences fees paid by three ultimate winning operators: MTN, MAFAB, and Airtel. This was one of the important highlights of the performance of the telecom industry during the period.
Both MTN and MAFAB have begun offering 5G services once the businesses were granted their respective licences in December 2021. Airtel is getting ready to debut its services later this month, in June 2023. The company acquired its licence in December 2022.
Another significant event that took place in the industry was the debut of the Starlink broadband service, which is a satellite-based wireless broadband service that has the ability to cover the entire country.
This came about as a result of the Commission’s decision to grant a licence to SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk. Currently, the services can be obtained at a number of locations across the nation.
In the meantime, the expansion rates of the telecommunications industry are revealing a remarkable track record of contributions to the economy.
As of April 2023, the total number of phone subscribers had reached 223.6 million, resulting in a teledensity of 117 percent.
During the same time period, the number of Internet customers was 157 million, while the number of broadband subscriptions stood at 92 million. This resulted in a broadband penetration rate of 48% across the country.
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Why telecommunication is important
Connectivity and communication are two aspects that are critical to the success of any organisation. In order to maintain their place in the market and maintain a level of competitiveness with other organisations, businesses require the ability to transmit information in a quick, thorough, and flexible manner.
When a company uses telecommunication technology, they are able to interact directly with its customers, keep up with its market, establish resources and partnerships that help them remain competitive, and access the information they need anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
Information technology and telecommunications have evolved to become vital components of modern society and the functioning of modern organisations. Even the most fundamental procedures and tasks of a business now require the use of telecommunication in order to be completed efficiently and in a manner that enables the business to remain competitive. Due to the fact that it has fundamentally altered the way in which business is conducted, all contemporary companies are required to guarantee that they have the appropriate infrastructure in place.
The development of cloud infrastructure has significantly boosted the need for unified telephony services. Businesses all over the world are increasingly adopting UCaaS platforms in order to take advantage of services like video and audio conferencing, messaging, and various other tools for collaboration. As a matter of fact, it is anticipated that the market for UCaaS will expand at a CAGR of 13.4% from $28.96 billion in 2021 to $69.93 billion in 2028.