In a sign of increasing telecom penetration, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has more than halved the number of clusters without access to telecom services in Nigeria in the past 10 years.
This revelation was made by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Professor Umar Garba Danbatta.
Prof. Danbatta, who was represented by the Commission’s Head of Pre-licensing, Usman Mala, made the revelations during an industry stakeholder forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Speaking further, he explained that the Commission identify access gaps according to cluster of communities without access to telecom services. According to him, the number of such clusters fell from 207 in 2013 to 97 in 2022, representing a 53% reduction.
He attributed that success to the deployment of necessary technology infrastructure.
“By 2019, we had succeeded in reducing the clusters of access gaps to 114 through the deployment of the necessary infrastructure needed to bring services to people living in rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country.”
“By 2022, we have reduced the clusters of access gaps to 97 from 207 in 2013. The number of Nigerians again have come down from 37 million in 2013 to 27 million as we speak. We achieved this by deploying, from 2009 to 2011, a total of 79 new base transceiver stations.” Explained the NCC boss.
Prof. Danbatta expressed optimism that the remaining 97 clusters will soon be connected to telecom services through regulatory interventions like the issuance of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) licences and the ongoing deployment of 5G networks, as the commission is determined to ensure the availability of quality and affordable telecom services to the doorstep of every Nigerian.
