Auction of 5G spectrum is expected to fetch NCC N500B
The auctioning of two 5G spectrums in 2023 is expected to bring in about N500 billion for the federal government, according to the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
This was said by Umar Danbatta, the executive vice-chairman of the NCC, during a discussion on the 2023–2025 MTEF–FSP that the Senate Committee on Finance organized on Monday in Abuja.
According to Mr. Danbatta, the commission has already started the auctioning procedure for the spectrums.
According to him, NCC generated N257 billion in the first quarter of 2022, of which N195 billion was donated to the government.
According to Danbatta, the NCC generated N318 billion between April and August, of which N214 was remitted.
He said that the money was raised as a result of the sale of two 5G spectrums for N263 million and N273 million.
According to him, NCC produced N799 billion between 2017 and 2021 and returned 423 billion to the government.
About 150 million Nigerians have access to the Internet, with over 80 million having access to high-speed internet, according to his estimate of Nigeria’s broadband penetration rate of 44%.
He claimed that the goal was to achieve 75% penetration by 2025.
According to him, the commission hoped to reach 50% penetration by the end of 2022.
He recommended Nigerians to utilize the emergency hotline 112 to report accidents, fires, and other emergencies, as well as the toll-free number 622 to file complaints about dropped calls.
Solomon Adeola, the chairman of the committee, stated that the Senate would keep pushing NCC to raise its income generation profile to the government.
According to Mr. Adeola, the deficit outlined in the budget for 2023 will be lessened with the help of the anticipated NCC revenues.
