Dr. Ernest Ndukwe

Amaka Eze

Active mobile subscription in Nigeria, is expected to  grow to 105 million from  103.4 million by December 2012, the former Executive Vice- Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, has said.

The former NCC boss stated that the nation’s telecoms industry, which had undergone tremendous changes and growth in the last 12 years of telecoms deregulation, would continue to grow steadily despite the challenges facing it.
Ndukwe spoke at the annual Nigerian Telecoms Awards organised by Logica Media.

According to him; “The change levels in the industry have remained breath-taking since 2001, when what is now commonly referred to as Nigeria’s telecom revolution came about.”

Ndukwe, who is also the Group Chairman of Open Media Group, noted that the changes that had taken place in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria in last twelve years could only be described as phenomenal.
He said: “Indeed no one was in a position to predict in those early days, the full potential of the market and the speed at which the Nigerian telecom network would grow.

“Today, the figure for active subscribers in the mobile networks is over 100 million lines and may surpass 105 million by end of December 2012.”
He said: “Indeed Nigeria has transited from what I describe as the telecommunications dark ages before 2000 to a telecommunications revolution age that has opened up new possibilities and frontiers across our political social and economic landscape,”
He attributed the growth in the sector, which had created remarkable impacts on other sectors of the economy to good policy direction and the role of the media in projecting the country as a favourable investment haven for foreigners.

He said: “We were able to achieve this feat due to an unwavering commitment to full sector reform by various stakeholders in the value chain including Government for policy direction; the industry regulator for professional and pro-active regulation, openness, transparency, and firmness; the legislature for enacting good laws for the sector; and the Nigerian media for incisive and well researched reportage and publications.”
The latest subscriber data from the NCC showed that the industry grew its active subscriber base to 103.4 million as at the end of July, 2012, jumping from 96.1 million in January, 2012.