The Nigerian communication commission (NCC) has revealed plans to generate N500 billion in revenue from the auctioning of the 5G spectrums in 2023.
This disclosure was made by the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who spoke in an interactive meeting on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF-FSP), organized by the Senate Committee on Finance.
He stated that the projected revenue would be realized from the auctioning of two 5G spectrums, adding that the commission had already begun the bidding process for auctioning of the spectrums.
Prof. Danbatta disclosed that in the first quarter of 2022, the commission generated N257 billion while it remitted N195 billion to the government coffers.
The NCC boss added that from April to August, N318 billion was generated while N214 billion was remitted. He revealed that the funds raised by the commission were occasioned by the auctioning of two 5G spectrums at the rates of $263 million and $273 million.
He said “The NCC from 2017 to 2021 had generated N799bn and remitted N423bn to the government.
“The target was to hit 75 percent penetration in 2025. Hopefully, we will achieve 50 percent penetration by end of 2022.”
Prof. Danbatta further advised Nigerians not to hesitate to make use of the 112 emergency national numbers in case of any emergency incident, such as fire outbreaks, or accidents, among others, and a toll-free number, 622, to lodge complaints on issues relating to drop calls.
Prof. Danbatta last year disclosed the readiness of the commission to deploy its mandate to boost the nation’s economy and ensure national development from the 5G spectrum, adding that the commission will launch a book to provide more insight into the workings of NCC under his watch.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, added that the Senate would continue to encourage NCC to improve its revenue generation profile to the Federal Government.
He further stated that the expected NCC revenue in 2023 would help reduce the deficit proposed in the 2023 budget.