The Nigerian telecommunications sector has swelled the
nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2017, to the
tune of N1.549 trillion, reports ITRealms.
Disclosing this in Abuja, while receiving the chairperson of
Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) Madam Angelique Weeks, during a
courtesy visit to his office in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta said, telecoms sector
contributed N1.549 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second
quarter of this year.
He explained that this figure represents 6.68 per cent
increase from the first quarter of the year, which was at N1.452 trillion.
Danbatta also said these figures were derived from recently
released National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report on the economy.
According ot him, NBS report confirmed that the
telecommunications sector, during the second quarter of 2017, contributed 9.5
per cent to the GDP in contrast to 9.1 per cent contribution in the first
quarter of the year.
“We are very proud of the remarkable contribution the sector
is making. Even at the recent times when the whole economy was facing
challenges, the sector had remained resilient and stable,” he told the visitor
who was accompanied by a team of administrators from West Africa
Telecommunication Regulators Association (WATRA).
Similarly, the NCC boss told the visitors that the
commission has also noticed a remarkable increase in the data usage in the
country.
“The monthly data usage is about 40 million terabytes,” he declared,
expressing optimism that the country would undergo a massive ICT transformation
by the time the excess data capacity at landing point in Lagos is deployed to
the hinterland through licensing of infrastructure companies (infracos).
Further, Danbatta noted that the broadband penetration in
the country currently stands at 21 per cent, as Nigeria is inching toward 30
per cent penetration next year, which is in line with its National Broadband
target.
The commission, he said, has approved spectrum trading
consistent with an item of the 8-Point Agenda, optimizing the use and benefits
of spectrum, to ensure that no acquired spectrum is left unutilized.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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