Nigeria Targets N500bn Revenue From 5G Spectrums Auction

The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) yesterday said it has a projection to generate over N500 billion for the federal government in 2023 fiscal year through the auctioning of 5G spectrum.

The executive vice chairman of the NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta made the disclosure at an  interactive meeting on 2023-2025 MTEF-FSP, organised by the Senate Committee on Finance.

He said the projected revenue would be realised from the  auctioning of two 5G spectrums, saying that the bidding process for auctioning  of the spectrums  for 2023 had begun.

He also disclosed  that NCC had generated  N257 billion in the first quarter of 2022, while N195 billion was  remitted to  government coffers.

Danbatta  further said from April to August, N318 billion was generated, while N214 was remitted.

According to him, the fund realised was occasioned by the auctioning  of  two 5G spectrums at the rates of N263 million and N273 million dollars.

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He said  NCC from 2017 to 2021 had also  generated N799 billion and remitted 423 billion to the government.

On broadband penetration in Nigeria, he  said  stood at 44 per cent, saying that about 150 million Nigerians have access to the  Internet, with over 80 million having access to high speed internet.

According to him, the target  was to hit 75 per cent penetration in 2025, adding that it was hopeful of achieving 50 per cent penetration by the end of 2022.

He advised Nigerians to make use of the 112 emergency national number to report issues of  emergency  like fire outbreak, accidents, among others and toll free number 622 to lodge complaints on issues relating to drop calls.

The chairman of the Committee, Sen Solomon Adeola said the Senate would continue to encourage NCC to improve its revenue generation profile to the federal government.

He also advised NCC to continue to help in facilitating  the  process of other revenue generation  agencies via its operations, where necessary.