Nigeria Now Has 109m Telephone Lines

Nigeria’s telecoms subscribers continue to groan under the negative effect of decline in quality of services in spite of the installed capacity glut which operators currently have on their network.

National Mirror gathered yesterday that while only about 138 million telephone lines were connected with only 109.4 million active, the actual number of telephone lines which telecoms operators had current capacity to accommodate on their networks had increased significantly to 219.1 million.

The latest industry data obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, revealed that the operators installed capacity jumped from 199.8 million in September 2012 to 219.1 million at the end of October 2012.

This means that the telecoms operators increased their network capacity and had created ready space on their networks to accommodate additional 19.3 million lines. Installed capacity is the total number of telephone lines which telecoms networks have built their network capacity to accommodate at a particular period of time.

Massive network expansion embarked upon by telecoms firms in the Global System for Mobile Communications segment led by MTN Nigeria with its $1.3bn network modernisation project, which kicked off in 2012 and network investment by other GSM firms have resulted in increased capacity for the networks.

NCC data showed that from December 2011, when installed capacity in the telecoms industry stood at 173,631,441 telephone lines, it has since increased, especially in the first eight months of 2012 into August.

It further increased in February, March, April and May to reach 178,176,150 lines; 176,662,992 lines; 199,639,372 lines; and 201,040,535 lines respectively.

In June 2012, it increased to 208,659, 327 telephone lines; while in July and August, telecoms operators invested further on their network to increase their network capacity to 210,846,910 phone lines and 210,832,940 lines respectively. In September and October 2012, industry installed capacity moved up from 199.8 million lines to 219.1 million lines.

Meanwhile, with only 138 million lines currently hooked to telecoms networks which have capacity to accommodate 219.1 million telephone lines, National Mirror gathered that the installed capacity was underutilised as capacity usage only accounts for 62 per cent, leaving 38 per cent space free.

However, industry analysts and stakeholders wondered why this did not translate into improved network as the usage level still indicated that there should not be cases of decline in telecoms services received by the subscribers.

President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, who described the statistics not translating into quality of service for telecoms subscribers, wondered why the subscribers were still facing declining service quality with ample space on telecoms networks to accommodate twice what the subscriber base they currently had on their network.

According to him: “Every right-thinking person that looks at the NCC statistics will see that there is an irony in it. “If I have a room that can contain 10 people and only about six people are currently living in that room, do you think there will be suffocation? Indeed, it is an irony of sorts.” Ogunbanjo lamented the unsatisfactory service delivery from telecoms networks, which pervaded 2012 and still continued to linger till present.

But the National Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said while the increased installed capacity in the industry was expected to translate into increased quality of telecoms services, “a number of other factors are actually responsible for poor quality of service provided by most telecoms networks.”

He insisted that vandalism, multiple taxation and wanton closure of telecoms infrastructure by some government agencies, federal and local authorities, the 2012 flooding disaster in some parts of the country as well as the recent terrorist attacks on telecoms infrastructure were other factors affecting the current poor quality of service.

He recalled that the flooding and terrorist attacks alone affected over 250 telecom sites that lost connection due to primary and secondary impact while “many suffered significant damage beyond repairs.” Adebayo also fingered the delay which characterised permit approvals often requested for network expansion by telecoms firms as another factor which slowed down improved network.

He added that those approvals, especially for right of way should always be given speedy treatment by necessary government agencies.

The President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, said beyond the increased installed capacity, factors earlier identified by ALTON president were major and needed to be addressed to ensure consistently improved service quality.

He noted that some of the environmental challenges facing telecoms infrastructure in their protection could be partly addressed by legally conferring Critical National Infrastructures, CNI, status on telecoms infrastructure. Also, the NATCOMS president, who also called on the Ministry of Communications Technology and the Presidency to impress it on the legislators the imperatives of passing into law the bill seeking to confer CNI status on telecoms infrastructure.

He insisted on the need for NCC to also keep the operators on their toes in improving the quality of service on their networks. He said: “However, NCC should now ensure that the operators meet the Key Performance Indicators on Quality of Service already set for them. This should be constantly measured to boost service satisfaction for telecoms consumers.

“Communications is essential. Apart from being an essential tool for interpersonal communication and business activities, it is the biggest sector today in terms of employment generation and this can be further improved if we properly protect the telecoms facilities.”

While urging NCC to launch a public enlightenment on telecoms infrastructure protection, Ogunbanjo also appealed to telecoms consumers and Nigerians to join hands in protecting communications facilities “given the central role these facilities now occupy in our daily life.”