30m Nigerians lack access to telecoms services
Despite the telecoms revolution in Nigeria two decades ago, 30 million Nigerians still do not have access to telecoms services, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
These people are located within 97 clusters without access to services.
To address this gap, the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta said the Commission is issuing licenses to satellite providers, since satellite technology has the capacity to extend services to the hinterlands.
The Commission has issued a license to Starlink and is engaging with them to bring the cost of their services down to affordable levels so more Nigerians can benefit from this service.
The NCC has deployed infrastructure such as base transceiver stations to bridge access gaps in rural and underserved areas of the country and has reduced identified areas of clusters without access to telecoms services by 53.1% as of the end of 2021.
By deploying and licensing Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services and 5G networks, the NCC aims to provide ubiquitous telecoms connectivity even in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to bridge all access gaps across the country.
