ISP firms rise to 225 in new licensing round by NCC
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) rose from 187 in 2021 to 225 in the first half of September 2022 as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ramps up efforts for greater internet penetration by issuing 38 new licences to such firms.
The new entrants include Starlink owned by Elon Musk whose licence the NCC approved in May.
Other licensees will leverage existing bandwidth capacity to provide last-mile connectivity but Starlink plans to launch this month with satellite technology for faster and cheaper internet service across Nigeria.
The rising number of ISPs is expected to boost Abuja’s vision of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025.
But NCC data show most ISPs concentrate in urban centres – Abuja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt – widening the digital gap between urban and rural communities.
The new ISPs come on the backdrop of complaints by old players over stiff competition with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
ISPs blame the bigger MNOs – MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile – for their woes as they flood the data market with cheaper prices that squeeze ISPs.
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ISPs like SMEs, they need help
VDT Communications Chief Executive Officer David Omoniyi appealed to the government to come to the aid of ISPs which he said could be classified as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the telecoms market, per Nairametrics.
“Indigenous ISPs are disappearing; more than 200 have been licensed so far by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), but only a few of them are still operating. They are largely SMEs and need support to survive,” he pleaded.
Omoniyi emphasised the role of ISPs in the quest for ubiquitous broadband, saying the implementation of the National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 requires the input of every stakeholder to succeed.
“We need to carry everybody along and one way is to keep the ISPs alive. We need the majority of them around to keep employing people and to take the service closer to the people. There is a need for targeted intervention for them to survive.”
MNOs
MNOss such as MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile also offer internet service alongside voice and other services, as permitted by the Universal Access Service Licence (UASL).
ISPs are licensed to provide only internet service and market domination by MNOs forces ISPs to sever mainly the corporate segment of the market, a fraction of the entire field.
MNOs had a total 151 million active internet subscribers in July. The core ISPs had 210,597.