The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission NCC Mr. Igariwey Enwo has explained why it is virtually impossible to just increase fees payable by communication service operators, all in the name of generating more revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.
Explaining the nuances surrounding the Communications Industry at an interactive session with the House of Representatives committee on Appropriation on the commission’s 2023 budget performance and projections for 2024, Mr. Enwo said as regulators of the industry, what is uppermost in their priority list was achieving a balance among government, operators and customers in growing the industry.
According to him, revenue collection from operators is not necessarily about maximising profit by the key investor, in this case government, but ensuring that more customers key-in to the service, thereby ensuring its growth and generating more benefits for investors, service operators and customers alike.
Committee Chairman Rep. Abubakar Bichi had categorically told the NCC Chief Executive that its N224 Billion revenue projection for the year 2024 was grossly inadequate, harping on the dire need for Government Owned Enterprises GOEs to up their revenue generation to effectively fund the Budget.
He reminded Enwo that minutes ago during the interaction, he had submitted that for 2023, the Commission projected the Sum of N570 Billion and as at September this year, it has achieved 80% amounting to N407 billion.
Explaining the shortfall in revenue projection, Enwo who had earlier given the Commission’s major sources of revenue as Spectrum fees, and revenue generated from licence fees, described the Spectrum as technologically-based which operates on global agreement for operations and for which no individual country can toe its own line.
He further explained that fees for auctioning of the Spectrum technology to communication operators as well as payment of licence fees are tenured and as such there periodically are shortfalls in revenue projections by the Commission.
On ways of effectively monitoring that what it gets form operators is really what is due them, the NCC boss disclosed that the NCC is on the verge of deploying a new Revenue Assurance System which will plug directly into operators system, so as to zero in precisely to what is due the government.
Committee chairman Rep Abubakar Bichi then advised the Commission that having listened to it, the NCC management should return to their office, think outside the box and come up with ways of increasing its revenue generating ability for the good of the nation.
