Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Nigeria has one of the largest telecom markets in Africa, supported by the second largest economy on the continent after South Africa. The economy has recovered from a recent recession, with DGP growth of 1.9% in 2018. This has helped the telecom sector to attract foreign investment, particularly from China, while government infrastructure programs are also stimulating investment.

The regulator has licensed a number of regional infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to build the national broadband network and offer capacity to all service providers on a non-discriminatory, open-access and price-regulated basis. This is helping to boost the country's fixed-line broadband sector, which has seen considerable consolidation among players in recent years. The government has updated its broadband ambitions, aiming to increase penetration from 30% by 2020 to 70% by 2021 though most connections will be via mobile networks. The sector is still dominated by GSM technology, though a greater reliance on LTE infrastructure is expected in coming years, supported by improved terrestrial fibre networks to provide backhaul for data services

BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.

On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Key developments:

Globacom commissions the Glo-2 cable system;

Government approves USD 328 million loan to complete national backbone project;

Regulator licences additional InfraCos;

Government pledges to deploy 18,000km of fibre to extend broadband to rural areas;

Two additional satellites proposed to provide additional capacity to NigComSat;

Swift Networks to add an additional 10,000 hotspots in Lagos, reaching two million people;

Digital broadcasting migration process begins in six states;

MTN and Airtel apply for Payment Service Bank licence;

Government commits to increasing mobile broadband penetration to 70% by 2021;

Disagreements emerge among new shareholders of 9Mobile;

Regulator calls for an additional 80,000 mobile base stations;

Report update includes the regulator's market data to December 2018, operator data to Q3 2018, assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Nigerian Telecommunications (ntel, Nitel, Pentascope, Transcorp, M-Tel), Globacom (Glo Mobile), VGC Communications (MTN Nigeria), Nepskom Communications, MTS First Wireless, Suburban Telecom, Backbone Connectivity Network (BCN), Traffic Network Services, Fibre Tech West Africa, Phase3 Telecom, Alheri Engineering, Mobitel Nigeria, Prestel (O-Mobile), Galaxy Backbone, 21st Century Technologies, Main One (Mainstreet Technologies), Brymedia, NigComSat, O3b Networks, WASACE, Linkserve, Pinet Informatics, Odu'a Telecom, Swift Networks, Startech Connection, Netcom Africa, MWEB Nigeria, Accelon (Internet Solutions), Polestar, Naija Wi-Fi, Suburban Telecom, Zinox, Starcomms, Layer3, Airtel Nigeria (formerly Zain, Celtel), 9Mobile (Etisalat Nigeria, EMTS, Mubadala), Visafone, Starcomms (Capcom), Multi-Links, Reliance, Econet Wireless, Vodacom.

Henry LancasterFebruary 2019