The National Communication Commission says the cost of data can be reduced for 90 per cent of Nigerian users by 2025. This may push the cost of data down to N390 for one gigabyte.
The commission is projecting increases in the speed of data to an average of 25Mbps in urban areas and 10Mbps in rural areas.
NBC believes this is achievable, especially if operators are able to invest rightly in the communication sector.
Last year, there was decrease in internet subscription. There was almost three million disconnected users. This was largely attributed to the linking of the National Identification Number to the Subscriber Identification Module.
According to data released in February by NCC, MTN Nigeria took the lion’s share with 42 per cent of total subscriptions, which reflected 1.8 per cent reduction. Airtel lost 2.7 per cent, while 9mobile recorded 3.6 per cent loss month-on-month.
Meanwhile, Right of Way has been identified as one of the factors affecting the cost and effectiveness of broadband in Nigeria. Others include vandalism.
RoW is the legal right to make way over a piece of land usually to and from another piece of land. It could be for transportation purpose, electrical transmission lines or oil and gas pipeline. In the case of telecommunications, it refers to the land on which companies can lay their connectivity cables.
Nigeria is one of the countries where RoW is still expensive. Kenya does not charge telecom operators for RoW.
The National Executive Councilnof Nigeria had reportedly agreed that state governments should charge only N145 per inear metre of fibre.
However, contrary to the agreed charges, seven years later, reports have it that some states are still charging more. Lagos charges as high as N1,500 per metre, Twenty-eight states are yet to implement the proposed N145 per metre RoW fee.
States such as Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Ekiti, Kwara, Anambra and Imo are the only ones playing by the NEC agreement. Anambra and Kaduna states cancelled the charges.
Proshare Hub reported, “In Nigeria, mobile network operators roll out the majority of fibre cables across the country, with MTN, Airtel and Glo laying 64 per cent (34,436km) of the total fibre distance of the 54,000km covered,”
Nigerian students and youths are among the highest users of internet services within the country. 2020.
Broadband penetration currently stands at 42.1 per cent. and the Federal Government of Nigeria targets 76 per cent by the end of the year.
“The mandatory push into the virtual landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the infrastructure gaps within the country’s technology sector,” it added.
