Telecom
Worries as N30Bn Debt Threatens Telecom Sector
The telecoms sector already contending with many problems hindering quality of service; may be finally knocked down by the huge interconnect debt profile which is growing by the day, according to Daily Trust.
Also known as termination rates, interconnect fee is the charge paid by telecoms companies to each other for terminating voice, data or other services over or across each other’s network.
The interconnectivity debt rose which has hit N30 billion, according the operators in the industry, is giving them sleepless night.
The operators said this together with the rising capital expenditure (Capex) and operational expenditure (Opex) may kill the industry
.
These debts in the industry, according to industry experts, are capable of threatening the stability of the Africa’s largest telecoms market, if the consequences of not settling the debts are not effectively managed by the government.
Daily Trust findings showed that the Interconnect debt profile increase was due to inactive status of majority of the debtors who are mainly Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), fixed line networks operators as well as Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Already, about 14 licensed telecoms operators who are among the debtors of interconnect charges have been declared inactive by the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC).
Some of these operators which had gone moribund include Starcomms, Reliance Telecoms (operating as Zoom), Intercellular Nigeria, MTS First Communications, Disc Communications, WiTel, O’Net (Odua Telecom), Rainbownet, Monarch Communications, XS Broadband, Webcom and IPNX.
Investigations also revealed that various active operators failed to settle their interconnect payment for calls initiated on their networks and terminating on competitors’ networks, a development that has increased the interconnectivity debt profile in the country.
Concerns over this huge debt profile and its implications on business activities in the sector brought the issue into discussion when Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, recently made an official visit to some telecoms companies in Lagos where he promised government commitment to address the matter.
Shittu said the government would look into the issue “to see how the issue of the debt may be resolved” in the interest of industry stability.
Bearing the highest consequences of the interconnectivity debt is MTN Nigeria being owed the lion’s share to the tune of N13.6 billion.
This amount owed MTN represents about 40 per cent of the total debts as the largest operator with 63 million subscribers and as such, often receive more terminations on its network has incurred more unsettled interconnect rates from other players.
Oyeronke Oyetunde, general manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria lamented that, “The issue of the rising profile of interconnectivity debt is something we need to discuss in the industry. Otherwise, it may pose questions around sustainability of the industry.”
An official of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications of Nigeria (ALTON) also told Daily Trust that the issue of rising interconnect debt is giving the association a serious headache.
The official who pleaded to remain anonymous blamed the poor economic situation in the country as the cause. He called on the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to do something urgent about the issue.
Charles Ike Nnamani, managing director, Medallion Communications, blamed the situation on the lack of clear settlement mechanism in the industry.
According to him, one of the core functions of inter connect clearing house is billing and settlement among operators but some services providers used to handle traffic exchange directly.
He said interconnect debts are a major factor against good quality of service as some operators deliberately deny competitor access to their networks if they owed terminating charge.
Nnamani stressed the need for a clear interconnectivity settlement scheme in industry to address the problem.
He said, “The truth is that, at the moment because of the way the major dominant operators have handled inter connectivity, there is no clear settlement in the industry and that is one of the things we are working at creating, within the next few months we hope to have a proper settlement scheme for the telecom industry in Nigeria. There is a lot of debt out there among the operators.”
Other industry analysts expressed concerns that while the government intervention may signal a possible resolution towards preventing the development from resulting in cutting off the networks of the debtor companies, it remains unknown how a company such as MTN and others being owed will recover their money from debtors’ organisations that are out of operations.
But a telecoms right activist, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo said whatever happens between the operators as regards the debt issue should not be passed on to the consumers.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that Nigeria’s internet usage reached a record 1.24 million terabytes in November 2025.
According to the latest data from the NCC, the figure rose modestly from 1.235 million terabytes in October, reflecting steady growth in digital activity across the country.
Broadband penetration in Nigeria crossed the halfway mark in November 2025, reaching 50.58 per cent, up from 45.61 per cent in January, the telecoms regulator reported.
The figure, however, falls short of the 70 per cent coverage target outlined in the National Broadband Plan 2020–2025, which expires this month.
The country had roughly 109 million broadband subscriptions by November. Growth has been uneven, hindered by infrastructure and regulatory constraints, including frequent fibre-optic vandalism that triggers 30 to 43 network cuts daily, high right-of-way fees, and declining subscriber numbers earlier in the year.
Expansion of mobile networks, particularly 3G and 4G services, alongside limited 5G rollouts in urban centres, affordable smartphones, and competitive data plans, has driven uptake.
Investments in the National Communications Backbone and private-sector initiatives have also improved access, especially in underserved areas.
While Nigeria is gradually improving digital inclusion, achieving the original broadband plan remains challenging due to high infrastructure costs, coverage limitations, and deployment hurdles.
The NCC maintains that continued investment in mobile networks and broadband infrastructure will sustain gradual growth in the sector.
Commenting on the development, some Nigerian analysts attributed the surge to the broader mobile and broadband adoption and the growing appetite for streaming, online learning and other digital services.
According to the analysts, the figures suggest that internet connectivity is no longer a luxury but a necessity for both business and leisure, underscoring the slow but steady expansion of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.
L-R: Head Special Projects, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Salamatu Andu; Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Engr. Abaraham Oshadame; Director General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Head Customer Support Service, Galaxy Backbone, Rosemary Ehize; Secretary to the ES. Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Tahir Aminu at the BPSR award ceremony for top four MDAs in BPSR Website Performance and Ranking 2025 at the BPSR office on Tuesday, 23rd December, 2025.
This is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.
In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.
BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure.
Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.
The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).
The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”
While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.
According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.
Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.
“As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.
The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.
Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has dismissed reports that bank accounts not linked to a Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be frozen or automatically debited from January 1, 2026.
Taiwo Oyedele
Oyedele described the claims as false and misleading, warning Nigerians against panic over misinformation surrounding recent tax and financial reforms.
In a post on his X handle Tuesday morning, he wrote: “Don’t let anyone manipulate you. Your bank account is safe. Misinformation makes you panic and fear a reform that is designed to help you.
“When they tell you that your account will be frozen or automatically debited from January 2026, ask them for the evidence in the new law. Be wise.”
He stressed that no provision in the new tax laws authorises the freezing of bank accounts, adding that the rumours are part of widespread misrepresentation of the reforms.
The committee chairman reiterated that the reforms are intended to simplify Nigeria’s tax system and ease the burden on ordinary citizens, not to impose punitive measures on bank customers.
How Moniepoint’s Founders, Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike are Redefining African Tech and Finance
Ecobank Guarantees Seamless Digital Banking Services Throughout the Christmas and Year-End Period
Banks quietly move to enforce new ₦50 transfer levy from Jan. 1
Nigeria’s Internet Usage Hits 1.24m Terabytes – NCC
World Bank Reveals Obstacles to Growth of Mobile Money Accounts in Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigeria Records Highest Weekly Cyberattacks in Africa — Report
Cyber Tsunami Hits Nigeria as Breaches Surge 1,047%, esentry Q3 Report Reveals
Minister Claims Bandits Exploit Poor Network, Bounce Calls Off Multiple Towers
Financial Sector Faced AI, Blockchain and Organised Crime Threats in 2025 – Report
GenAI Adoption Among African workers Outpace Global Peers
E-Financial2 days agoBanks quietly move to enforce new ₦50 transfer levy from Jan. 1
Telecom3 days agoNigeria’s Internet Usage Hits 1.24m Terabytes – NCC
General News2 days agoEcobank Guarantees Seamless Digital Banking Services Throughout the Christmas and Year-End Period
News1 day agoHow Moniepoint’s Founders, Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike are Redefining African Tech and Finance