By Daniel Tyokua
The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has canvassed for a sustainable financing to improve growth in the Telecom sector.
He spoke made the call on Thursday at the ongoing 18th Abuja international trade fair organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), with the theme – ‘Sustainable Financing and Taxation’
Danbata who spoke through the Director Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), of the NCC, Alkasim Umar, said:”Sustainable financing in telecommunication involves sourcing the necessary capital to build and maintain robust telecommunications networks.
“As regulators, we understand that this financing should be stable, accessible and conducive for industry growth”
On taxation, he said, there must be a balance bet Taxation while essential for funding of Government initiatives must strike a delicate balance between revenue generation and industry growth.
“Our role as regulator, is to advocate for fair taxation practices that do not stifle innovation or place undue burden on consumers.
“We acknowledge the intricacies of tax policies but emphasis the importance of creating an environment where telecommunications companies can thrive. To address these challenges the Commission continuously engage both the Federal and State Government on the need to harmonise taxation in the telecommunications sector.” He said
He further said, “The Commission recognises the fact that telecommunications sector has been a strategic driver of the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government, as it continues to provide the needed digital stamina to support the economy, especially through technology. It is no longer news that telecommunications empowers individuals, connects businesses, strengthen industries and enable Governments to provide essential services efficiently thereby driving development and prosperity.”
He also spoke on the increase of mobile subscribers in the country, ‘in Nigeria today, the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 220,715,961 million as at August 2023, while Teledensity stood at 115.63 per cent at the same period. Also, the number of active Internet subscribers was 159,034,717 Million with broadband penetration at 45.57 per cent as at August, 2023.”
According to the EVC, “to sustain this, therefore, the NCC continues to create a conducive environment that stimulates deployment of robust telecoms/broadband infrastructure for improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for telecoms consumers be it individuals or corporates.”
The Director CAB, NCC, Alkasim Umar, in his remarks said, “As the industry continues to grow and evolve, it is essential that we address the issue of sustainable financing and taxation to ensure its long term viability.”
