Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe has confirmed that telecoms investment in Nigeria in the last eight years has exceeded USD18 billion.
Ndukwe said the current investment figure is made up of about US$12 billon from foreign direct investment while the balance is from investments made within the country since 2001.
He said government’s invitation to the private sector for participation in the industry has paid handsomely and led to the current success indices in the sector.
“This tells me that the decision by government to liberalise was a very good one”, he said, indicating that this is why the current 68 Million active subscriber lines recorded in the industry over just eight years in Nigeria has been variously described as a revolution.
The NCC boss said that the decision by Nigeria to implement a technologically neutral regulation has resulted in investments in both the GSM and CDMA based services and made diverse services available in Nigeria with investors attacking services from different points thereby providing choices for the Nigerian consumer.
To maintain this sector, we need to create a local manufacturing base, so to reduce cost of operatioo.