NCC advocates for fair taxation practices, not to stifle innovation, place undue burden on consumers.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reiterated its commitment to continue to advocate for fair taxation practices that do not stifle innovation or place undue burden on consumers to continuously engage both the Federal and State Government on the need to harmonize taxation in the telecommunications sector.
This commitment was made in the speech delivered by Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, The Executive Vice-Chairman/Ceo, Nigerian Communications Commission, at the “NCC DAY” during the 18th Abuja International Trade Fair organized by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) at the Abuja Trade & Convention Centre, Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua Way, Airport Road, Abuja.
Danbatta said that this year’s edition of the Trade Fair with the theme – ‘Sustainable Financing and Taxation’ is very apt and timely, especially considering the pivotal role the telecommunications industry play in driving economic growth, fostering innovation, and enhancing the quality of life for citizens across the globe, adding that as the telecommunications regulator in Nigeria, ‘we bear the responsibility of ensuring the sustainability and vitality of the sector.’
He hinted that the telecommunications empower individuals, connect businesses, strengthen industries and enable Governments to provide essential services efficiently thereby driving development and prosperity.
“Information Communications Technology (ICT) is not only one of the fastest growing industries – directly creating millions of jobs – but it is also an important enabler of innovation and development, as it provides the backbone infrastructure for transactional business and taxation for the Government. However, maintaining this digital infrastructure and its continued growth necessitates substantial investment,” he said.
The EVC NCC explained that as regulators, the commission understands that this financing should be stable, accessible and conducive for industry growth, adding that taxation while essential for funding of Government initiatives must strike a delicate balance between revenue generation and industry growth.
“Our role as regulator, is to advocate for fair taxation practices that do not stifle innovation or place undue burden on consumers. We acknowledge the intricacies of tax policies but emphasize the importance of creating an environment where telecommunications companies can thrive. To address these challenges the Commission continuously engages both the Federal and State Government on the need to harmonize taxation in the telecommunications sector,” he explained.
According to him, it is in our response to ensuring that Nigeria is competitive in all these areas that the Commission continuously puts a number of regulatory measures in place to ensure seamless access by Nigerians to telecommunications services in order to deepen competitiveness of the Nigerian economy by making our businesses and industries digitally compliant.
“In Nigeria today, the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 220,715,961 million as at August 2023, while Teledensity stood at 115.63 per cent at the same period. Also, the number of active Internet subscribers was 159,034,717 Million with broadband penetration at 45.57 per cent as at August, 2023. In this new environment, the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses depends on their ability to leverage on new technologies by acquiring the necessary digital skills to do business on an international scale. This in turn benefits the economy financially,” he added.
The steady growth of telecoms sector, he said, over the years with its pervasive positive impact on all other sectors of the economy in terms of increased automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery, has been remarkable, adding that this, however, would not have been possible without the telecoms consumers who are using the services daily.
To sustain this, therefore, the NCC, he said, has continued to create a conducive environment that stimulates deployment of robust telecoms/broadband infrastructure for improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for telecoms consumers, be it individuals or corporates, adding, “this is because, as a country, we need robust telecoms infrastructure that will help our industries transit to becoming Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven if we hope to be digitally competitive on the global stage.”
In his words: “As a regulator, we also ensure we constantly inform you, the consumers, on how to be protected to prevent cases of online fraud or avoid consumer falling victims of cybercrime antics while in their legitimate use of the Internet.
“As you may be aware, the NCC is driving initiatives for the full deployment of the Fifth Generation (5G) network in Nigeria. Already, 5G spectrum licenses have been issued to companies for rollout. It is important to state that the 5G network will bring substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities to communications services in Nigeria. I am happy to inform you that licensees have kicked off the commercial launch of 5G network in some cities across the nation.
“More importantly, it is also our commitment, at NCC, to continue to provide a level-playing ground for operators to thrive, promote investment and delivery of innovative services to individual consumers and business owners by ensuring enhanced consumer quality of experience.
“We also believe that with sustainable financing and fair taxation practices, we can ensure that the telecommunications sector remains resilient and continue to serve as the catalyst for progress in our interconnected world.”
