Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/05/2014 -- In February 2014, the NCC fined three of the country's four MNOs the sum of NGN647.5mn (US$3.89mn) for missing their QoS targets for the month of January. This development supports BMI's view that increased regulatory pressure over poor QoS would drive capex spending and efficiency improvement strategies among operators in 2014 and beyond. Some operators sealed network and IT outsourcing deals with leading vendors in late 2013 and early 2014. Meanwhile, there are reports of impending tower deals as the operators look to outsource the management of their tower sites to independent vendors. We expect this trend to continue over the long term given the current market dynamics and growing regulatory pressure.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents

Key Data

- Mobile subscription growth accelerated to 5.2% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q413, bringing total growth in FY13 to 12.8%.
- Mobile ARPU declined by 4% in FY13, largely driven by cuts to mobile termination rates in April 2013.
- The fixed-line sector contracted by 0.5% in Q413 and 13.8% in FY13. This was considerably less than envisaged owing to the impressive performance of alternative operators targeting corporate customers and highbrow neighbourhoods.
- The number of mobile data users grew by more than 107% in the 12 months to December 2013.

Risk/Reward Ratings

Nigeria regained top position this quarter on BMI's Q2 2014 Risk/Reward Ratings (RRR) for Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria's aggregate score is boosted by comparatively high Industry Rewards, Industry Risk and Country Risk scores, reflecting high voice and data services growth potential, regulatory independence and strong private consumption growth outlook. However, Nigeria's Country Rewards score is held back by a low GDP per capita and high unemployment rate.

Key Trends And Developments

Smile Communications launched commercial 4G LTE service in Lagos in March 2014, one year after launching a similar service in the nearby city of Ibadan, albeit it with less fanfare. Smile will compete directly with Spectranet, which launched 4G LTE services in Lagos in August 2013. The operator has also signed a three-year network deployment agreement with Swedish vendor Ericsson to develop over 1,100 LTE sites across the country. Presently, Smile and Spectranet are concentrating their efforts on the major urban cities of Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja and Port Harcourt, but would have to expand beyond those cities to sustain growth when more players enter the 4G LTE market.

About Fast Market Research
Fast Market Research is a leading distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff is always available to help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget. For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.

Browse all Fixed Networks research reports at Fast Market Research

You may also be interested in these related reports:

- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- India Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- Japan Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- Caribbean Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- Colombia Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- Italy Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- China Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- Chile Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- Peru Telecommunications Report Q2 2014
- West & Central Africa Telecommunications Report Q2 2014