Globally, one of the most attractive factors considered by foreign investors in telecom sector remains statistics on service availability and usage as released by regulatory agencies.
However, when such data coming from relevant agencies are becoming inconsistent, investors are jolted and in some cases, their interests rested or diverted to other climes where statistics are stable and believable.
In his speech at the recent 2019 Annual Dinner and Awards Night by Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Kabuga branch, held at the Grand Central Hotel Kano weekend, the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, was quoted by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as noting that over 60 million Nigerians had access to high speed internet services in the country.
Also, the latest statement signed by the new Director, Corporate Affairs of the Commission, Dr Henry Nkemadu, quoted Danbatta as saying that “As at May this year, there were over 173.6 million active mobile lines across mobile networks, corresponding to a teledensity of 90.98 per cent. Internet subscriptions during the month stood at 122.6 million up from 119 million in April”.
Putting both reports side-by-side, it is observed that while NCC said on Saturday that over 60 million Nigerians had access to high speed internet services in the country, the same agency of the Federal Government claimed in an official statement on Monday that “Internet subscriptions during the month stood at 122.6 million up from 119 million in April.”
Whereas internet subscription clearly translates to access to internet services, the question that is capable of confusing both industry stakeholders and mainly foreign investors will be what is the actual number of Nigerians currently accessing internet via their subscription?
Could it be 60 million as stated on Saturday in Kano by the EVC or 122.6 million internet subscribers in May which the same agency said in a statement on Monday that it jumped from its April figure of 119 million?
Efforts to reach the new Director, Corporate Affairs at NCC, Dr Nkemadu, for comments failed.
