Abuja, Nigeria — The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has linked the decline in telecom revenue for 2024 to the inability to auction 5G spectrum licenses.
This disclosure was made by Yakubu Gontor, NCC’s Director of Financial Services, and Aminu Maida, the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice Chairman, during the 2025 budget defence session before the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Communications.
Gontor highlighted that unfavorable market conditions were the primary reason for the failure to auction additional 5G spectrum licenses.
“Two major operators already have 5G spectrum but are underutilizing it. Unfortunately, the third largest operator, whom we were relying on to acquire the spectrum, informed us that the timing was not right as their focus was on expanding their market share,” Gontor explained.
Despite a 50 percent increase in telecom tariffs, Gontor noted that spectrum sales did not yield the expected revenue. However, he expressed optimism that the introduction of new technologies, such as 6G, could potentially generate over $1 billion in revenue for the federal government.
Providing further insights, Maida revealed that the NCC generated N195.8 billion in revenue in 2024, remitting N111 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. However, the Commission fell short of its N292.3 billion revenue target due to the unsuccessful auctioning of a 5G spectrum slot.
In response, Senator Aliyu Ikrah Bilbis, Co-Chairman of the Committee, acknowledged the Commission’s submissions and emphasized that the discussions would enable the Committee to ask relevant questions and assist the NCC in improving its operations in 2025.
By Taiwo Olatinwo| January 31, 2025
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