ICTworks by Inveneo

There are more than 70 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria and it has the largest mobile subscriber base in Africa. Five GSM operators are active in the Nigerian mobile market and four CDMA network operators.

Glo 1 landing in Nigeria

The Mobile penetration rate at the end of 2009 was 48%. With the mobile subscriber penetration potential being more than 100%, there is ample room for growth in the market.

National backbone coverage is limited and, in keeping with the government’s Vision 2020 initiative, there are plans underway to extend the backbone, which will provide additional opportunities for investors.

The imminent lighting up of the MainOne and Glo-1 undersea cables connecting to the country is also likely to yield a wide range of growth opportunities in making international bandwidth more readily available.

The number of fixed line/fixed wireless access subscribers in Nigeria is expected to increase to a modest 2.9 million by 2014, indicating that the access mode of preference will continue to be by mobile phone. The number of mobile subscribers is expected to grow at 10% per year over the period, reaching almost 114 million by 2014, and representing net additions of almost 42 million subscribers. Mobile teledensity will approach 66% over this period. The number of internet users is set to increase to 36 million.

Data from Investment Opportunities in the ICT Sector in Nigeria: 2010

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