The rising number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is expected to boost the country’s broadband penetration target by 70 per cent come 2025 as the number increased from 239 at the end of 2022 to 258 as of April 2023.
According to the updated list of internet service providers just published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), 19 new companies were licensed between January and April this year to bridge the internet access gaps in the country.
NCC’s ISPs data showed that the companies are concentrated in Abuja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt. For instance, out of the 19 companies that were newly licensed between January and April this year, 10 are located in Abuja, 5 in Lagos, 1 in Edo State, 1 in Kaduna, 1 in Ondo, and another 1 in Adamawa State.
However, the locations of the service providers show that most are still concentrated in the urban areas, as the digital gap between urban and rural Nigeria continues to widen.
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The new service providers are coming amidst complaints by the old players over the stiff competition with the Mobile Network Operators. The ISPs have been blaming the bigger operators, especially the likes of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile for their woes as the operation of the mobile network operators in the retail data market with cheaper prices is said to be the bane of the ISP businesses.
Meanwhile, the NCC also recently acknowledged the challenges confronting ISPs in Nigeria as it disclosed that about 568 licensed companies licensed as ISPs had become inactive.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, one of the major issues is the anti-competition practices in the industry. This is even as he disclosed that a total of 756 companies had been licensed as ISPs in Nigeria as of March 2022, but only 188 of them were active as of that time.
“We are also maintaining and mandating more openness and transparency in the activities of stakeholders within the industry in order to ensure healthy competition practices amongst competing licensees. We are actively engaging in strategic collaborations with stakeholders who have crucial roles to play in the growth and development of the Nigerian economy with an emphasis on the telecommunications sector,” he added.