Nigeria’s Broadband Penetration at 32%

• Nigeria’s Broadband Penetration at 32%

Nigeria’s broadband penetration rose slightly in January to 32.34 percent, according to the report released by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

The commission put the total number of 3G and 4G subscribers at 61.7 million as of January 2019.

Broadband penetration is measured by the percentage of the total population with access to broadband networks. Broadband subscriptions, 61,732,130, divided by population figure of 190,886,311, UN’s Nigeria population projection, 2017.

Prof Uma Danbatta, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, who was at a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja recently, said the multiple regulations, right of way and delayed permits were some of the challenges impeding broadband growth in Nigeria.

The commission, however, exceeded its 30 percent target for broadband penetration in December and now stood at 32 percent.

He stated, “The implementation of the commission’s SVP roadmap has so far resulted in the attainment of 30.9 per cent broadband penetration as of November 2018. What this connotes is that a total of 58,965,478 were connected to the broadband networks out of 108,457,051 Internet subscribers in the nation’s telecom networks. The figures rose in December to 60,087,199 taking the penetration to 31.48 per cent.

“Yet even more pertinent to broadband penetration is the fact that six infrastructure companies have been licensed to drive the development of infrastructure across the nation’s geographical zones and Lagos,” Danbatta added.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the number of active voice subscribers in Nigeria’s telecoms sector rose to N172.82 million in the final quarter of 2018. An increase of 10.70 million from 162.03 million attained in the third quarter of the same year.