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Active phone subscribers reduce in February – NCC

Published

6 years ago

April 15, 2019

The NCC) says there was a decrease of 342,101 active subscribers on the telecommunication networks in February 2019.

NCC disclosed this in its Monthly Subscriber/Operator Data made available on its website on Monday.

Active subscribers on the telecommunications networks reduced from 174,012,136 in January to 173,670,035 in February.

According to the data, 173,276,528 of the 173,670,035 active numbers subscribe to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network services.

The GSM operators’ active customers’ figure decreased by 348,778 in February, against the 173,625,306 subscribers recorded in January.

The report stated that out of the GSM operators, MTN had 65,565,878 users in February, showing a decrease of 99,480 from the 66,665,378 it recorded in January.

“Globacom’s figure increased in February by 400,879 with 46,004,517 customers, as against 45,603,638 in January.

“Airtel had 44,975,532 subscribers in the month under review, which showed an increase of 4,559 users, from the 44,970,973 recorded in January.

“9mobile recorded 16,730,581 customers in February, having an increase of 345,264 subscribers, against 16,385,317 in January.

“The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators recorded 123,547 subscribers in the month under review, indicating a decrease of 710, from 124,257 users in January.

“Visafone which is one of the two surviving CDMA operators had 119,087 customers in February, showing a decrease of 710 from the 119,797 recorded in January,” it said.

The report added that Multi-Links had 4,460 in the month under review, same with the record of January.

“The monthly subscriber/operator data showed that Fixed Wireless network (landline) consumers remained at 26,865 in February.

“One of the two landline networks, Visafone had 26,437 subscribers, while Multi-Links maintained its record of 428 customers in the month under review.”

It also revealed that the Fixed Wired operators (landline) subscriber base decreased by 154; reducing to 107,795 users in February, as against 107,949 recorded in January.

“In the Fixed Wired arena, MTN Fixed moved from 5,480 users in January to 5,459 users in February, thereby decreasing by 21 customers.

“Glo Fixed had 2,884 users in February, decreasing by 12 customers from the January record of 2,896.

“IpNX network moved from 2,248 subscriber base in January to 2,233 in February, hence, its customers decreased by 15.”

It said that 21st Century Network had 97,219 customers in February, recording a decrease of 106 users from its January record of 97,325 subscribers.

The report also showed that the two Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) networks had 135,300 active users in February, as their customers increased by 7,541 from their January subscriber base of 127,759.

“Of the VOIP networks, Smile Communication had 129,468 customers, giving an increase of 8,207 users to its January result of 121,261.

“Ntel had 5,832 consumers subscribing to its products and services in February, showing a decrease of 666 users from the January record of 6,498,” it said.

The regulatory body said that Section 89, Subsection 3(c) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 mandates it to monitor and report the state of the telecommunications industry.

“The commission is mandated to provide statistical analyses and identify industry trends with regard to: services, tariffs, operators, technology, subscribers, issues of competition and dominance.

“This is with a view to identifying areas where regulatory intervention will be needed.

“The commission regularly conducts studies, surveys and produces reports on the telecommunications industry.

“Therefore, telecommunications operators are obligated, under the terms of their licenses, to provide NCC with such data on a regular basis for analytical review and publishing,” it said.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

3 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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