During the early days of mobile technology in Nigeria, the Federal Government received telecom license fees worth about $1.2 billion from major operators such as MTN, Globacom, Econet (now Airtel), and Etisalat (now 9mobile).
These license payments were a major factor in the 2000 establishment of the telecom sector, which is essential to Nigeria’s economy.
This was disclosed by former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday during the book launch and inaugural speech of Dayo Oketola, in Lagos.
He disclosed that his administration had turned down offers to sell telecom licenses for as little as $3 million, making sure that MTN, Glo, and Econet paid the full $280 million for each license instead.
Remarkably, Etisalat—the final player in the telecom space—paid a hefty $450 million for its license. Through the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Federal Government received a total of $1.2 billion as a result of this calculated decision.
“Licenses were issued to the first three mobile telecom firms upon their arrival. One of these licenses cost $280 million, but shortly after, some people in the previous administration planned to provide the identical license for just $3 million. They wanted to use that money to give the licenses to their buddies, according to Obasanjo.
Even though these investments have resulted in notable advancements, he stated that establishing the proper framework is still necessary to draw in additional capital and maintain the sector’s growth.
“Nigeria still has opportunities to draw in investments today, but the right circumstances must be established before those funds can flow back in,” he said.
In August 2001, MTN, a South African company, started operating in Nigeria and soon emerged as the industry leader. When Globacom joined the market in 2003, it brought with it a cutting-edge per-second billing model that forced MTN and Econet to emulate.
August 5, 2001 saw the start of commercial GSM services for Econet Wireless Nigeria, which was founded in 2000. Nigerian telecom industry was joined by Emerging Markets Telecommunications Service, which was operating under the name Etisalat, in 2007.
He went on to say that the industry had been greatly molded by the competition between the operators (MTN, Econet, and Glo).
“Competition was attained by us. They were competing, the three of them. Of course, MTN had the advantage in terms of spread, followed by Glo and Econet, in my opinion. Econet caused some internal strife inside the heart, but in the end, they managed to work things out. Well, they arrived last, the former president said.
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Landlines were the main form of communication in Nigeria prior to the introduction of mobile telephony in the year 2000. Landlines were scarce and frequently regarded as a luxury available only to the affluent during this time.
The previous head of state described the significant obstacles Nigerians had to overcome due to their inadequate infrastructure, managing to get less than 500,000 phone connections in spite of large investments.
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We had done a lot of things before mobile telecommunication, so the history of communication and telecommunication—in particular, mobile communication and telecommunication—was a really interesting one.
“Our expenses were substantial. People have to wait in line at the phone because, despite everything we have done, we have welcomed corporations from America, France, and even Britain, and we have not received more than 500,000 lines,” Obasanjo said.
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