According to the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), the Federal Government would earn more than N500 billion from the 5G network in the fiscal year 2023.
Prof.Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, said this on Monday at a Senate Committee on Finance interactive discussion on the 2023-2025 MTEF-FSP.
Danbatta stated that the expected income will be realized through the auctioning of two 5G spectrums and the bidding process for the spectrum auctioning in 2023.
He also said that NCC earned N257 billion in the first quarter of 2022, with N195 billion going to the government. From April to August, N318 billion was earned, while N214 billion was remitted, according to the NCC chairman.
According to him, the fund realised was occasioned by the auctioning of two 5G spectrums at the rates of N263m and N273m dollars.
He said, “ The NCC from 2017 to 2021 had also generated N799bn and remitted N423bn to the government.
He added, “The target was to hit 75 per cent penetration in 2025. Hopefully, we will achieve 50 per cent penetration by end of 2022.”
Danbatta advised Nigerians to make use of the 112 emergency national numbers to report issues of emergency such as fire outbreaks, accidents, among others, and a toll-free number, 622, to lodge complaints on issues relating to drop calls.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, said the Senate would continue to encourage NCC to improve its revenue generation profile to the Federal Government.