NCC confirms video streaming, voice lift revenue as telecom records $75.6b investment
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Video streaming and voice calls raised spending on telecom services to N3.86 trillion in 2022, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in its 2022 Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report.
The report said this was an 18.74 per cent increase from N3.25 trillion spent in 2021, confirming greater reliance on and increasing growth of telecom services spurred by more adoption of smartphones by Nigerians.
The NCC broke down the earnings as follows:
- Mobile network operators – N3.33 trillion
- Fixed wired operators – N385.07 million
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – N92.08 billion
- Value Added Service providers – N40.74 billion
- Collocation and infrastructure sharing operators – N3.29 billion
- Other telecom operators – N5.59 billion
Telecom service providers made N3.86 trillion revenue but spent N2.88 trillion on operating costs and capital expenditure, leaving them with a N977.44 billion profit before tax.
The NCC disclosed the total number of active subscribers rose 13.86 per cent to 222,571,568 active voice subscriptions in 2022, from 195,463,898 in 2021.
“The increase in the operators’ subscriber base was attributed to a number of reasons which includes subscriber loyalty, promos, seasonal effects, aggressive consumer acquisition drive, and competitive product offerings across all the networks,” the report said.
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Triggers to telecom growth
The NCC attributed the increase in the use of telecom services to the lifting of the ban on the sale and registration of new SIMs, SIM swaps, and porting activities following the conclusion of the audit of the subscriber registration database, per The PUNCH.
The growth in active subscriptions impacted positively on other derived telecom indicators such as teledensity, internet penetration, broadband penetration.
Data usage – spurred by growth in video streaming because of the rise in smartphone usage – surged 46.77 per cent to 518,381.78TB in 2022 from 353,118.89TB in 2021.
The NCC disclosed “There was an increase in the volume of data consumed in the year end December 2022 when compared with the year-end December 2021.
“The total volume of data consumed by subscribers increased to 518,381.78TB as of December 2022 from 353,118.89TB as of December 2021. This represents an increase of 46.77 per cent in data consumption within the period.”
Internet subscriber base notched 9.06 per cent from 141.97 million in 2021 to 154.85 million in 2022, according to the report.
It said more people got connected to broadband services in 2022, with penetration growing from 40.88 per cent in 2021 to 47.36 per cent in 2022 and subscriptions from 78,041,883 to 90,398,960.
People made more calls in 2022 with total outgoing local and national traffic reaching 204,091,441,469.16 minutes, a 17.59 per cent jump from 173,555,413,817.69 minutes in 2021.
Texting remains a relevant communication channel as the total number of national text messages both sent and received in 2022 was 25,928,704,567, a 28.82 per cent rise from 20,126,551,822 in 2021.
Telecom creates value, being Nigeria’s communication backbone connecting every aspect of the economy; with NCC Executive Vice Chairman Umar Danbatta recently disclosing the sector attracted $75.6 billion investment in 2021.
