Last updated: 21 May 2012 Update History
Report Status: Archived
Report Pages: 117
Analyst: Peter Lange
Publication Overview
This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market. Subjects covered include:
Companies covered in this report:
Accelon (Internet Solutions), Alheri Engineering, Backbone Connectivity Network (BCN), Bharti Airtel (formerly Zain, Celtel), Brymedia, Communication Trends Nigeria, Cyberspace, Direct-on-PC, EMTS (Mubadala, Etisalat), Entertainment Highway Ltd (HiTV), Fibre Tech West Africa, Galaxy Backbone, Galaxy Information Technology and Telecommunication, Gateway Communications, Gateway Telecoms Integrated Services, Glo Mobile (Globacom), Hyperia, Intercellular, IP Direct, Layer3, Linkserve, Main One, Mobitel Nigeria, M-Tel (Nitel), MTN Nigeria, MTS First Wireless, Multi-Links (Telkom SA), MWEB Nigeria, Naija WiFi, Nepskom Communications, Netcom Africa, NigComSat, Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (Nitel), Odu'a Telecom, O3b Networks, Phase3 Telecom, PINET Informatics, Polestar, Prestel (O-Mobile), Reliance, Starcomms, Startech Connection, Suburban Telecom, Swift Networks, Traffic Network Services, VGC Communications (MTN), Visafone, Zinox, Zoda Fones, 21st Century Technologies.
Researcher:- Peter Lange
Current publication date:- May 2012 (11th Edition)
Executive Summary
Nigeria is one of the biggest and fastest growing telecom markets in Africa, attracting huge amounts of foreign investment, and is yet standing at relatively low levels of market penetration. Far reaching liberalisation has led to hundreds of companies providing virtually all kinds of telecom and value-added services in an independently regulated market. Following a fifth unsuccessful attempt to privatise Nitel, the incumbent national telco, the company is currently in liquidation.
The West African country has overtaken South Africa to become the continent’s largest mobile market with now close to 100 million subscribers, and yet market penetration stands at only around 60% in early 2012. However, subscriber growth slowed significantly during the global economic crisis, re-accelerated in 2010 but then slowed again in 2011. Much of the remaining addressable market is in the country’s rural areas where network rollouts and operations are expensive. This in combination with declining ARPU levels is forcing the networks to streamline their operations and to develop new revenue streams from services such as third generation (3G) mobile broadband, mobile payments/banking, and others. At the same time the operators are rolling out national fibre backbone networks to support the ever increasing demand for bandwidth. At least two operators are rolling out fourth generation (4G) LTE networks.
Nigeria is also the most competitive fixed-line market in Africa, featuring a second national operator (SNO, Globacom) and over 80 other companies licensed to provide fixed telephony services. The alternative carriers combined now provide over 90% of all fixed connections, the majority of which has been implemented using wireless technologies. This gives the network operators the opportunity to also enter the lucrative mobile market under a new unified licensing regime and has helped them to secure hundreds of millions of US$ in investments from local and foreign investors.
Nitel’s monopoly on international fibre bandwidth via the SAT-3/WASC submarine cable system ended in 2009 when Globacom’s Glo-1 cable landed in the country, followed by the Main-One cable in 2010. Additional submarine cables are scheduled to go online in 2012, which will deliver a further boost to the country’s underdeveloped Internet and broadband sector. New powerful players from the fixed-wireless and mobile network operator camps have entered this market with 3G mobile and advanced wireless broadband services such as WiMAX. The Internet Protocol (IP)-based next generation networks currently being rolled out are enabling converged voice, data/Internet and video services. VoIP is already carrying the bulk of Nigeria’s international voice traffic. Applications such as e-commerce, online banking and e-payments, e-health, e-learning and e-government are rapidly evolving.
This annual report contains a market overview and analysis, key statistics, regulatory issues, profiles of major players, including financial results where available, and two scenario forecasts for the mobile market in 2013 and 2016.
Market highlights:
Estimated market penetration rates in Nigeria’s telecoms sector – end 2012
Market |
Penetration rate |
Mobile |
63% |
Internet |
49% |
Fixed |
0.2% |
(Source: BuddeComm based on various sources)
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