In spite of the lull in the Nigerian economy, there is a data revolution happening in the country.
Ntel, the company that acquired the erstwhile and struggling Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd, NITEL, is planning to raise $1 billion from investors to launch its broadband services. The company hopes to implement its plan by the year 2020.
Kamar Abass, Ntels’s Chief Executive Officer, certain about his plans said “We are speaking to investors and to banks who are interested in a growth story for Africa. We are seeing the very beginnings of a shift from a voice-oriented communications market in Nigeria to one that will be dominated by mobile broadband.”
Inctreasing Nigeria’s broadband access and capacity has in recent times been receiving serious attention from foreign investors. Smile Holdings recently raised $365 million. Main One, also a local company that had invested in Nigeria’s broadband submarine cable also announced that it has raised about $300 million.
Ntel plans to launch tomorrow 8 April, 2016. The company will be competing with MTN, the market leader with over 40 million mobile subscribers. Ntel plans to only roll out in Lagos and Abuja. With its focus in broadband data services, Ntel will be testing the waters with equally striving 4G data providers such as Swift 4G, Spectranet and Smile.
