The Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Mr. Peter Igho, has said that Nigeria has an estimated 129 million active telephone subscribers.

According to Igho, over 50 million Nigerians also have access to the internet. He, however, lamented the issue of multiple taxation, right of way and vandalism of telecommunication facilities as some of the factors militating against improved service provision.

Igho, who disclosed this in Umuahia during a courtesy visit to the Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji, further disclosed that telecommunication industry contributes 8.5 per cent to the nations GDP with a tele-density of 92 per cent.

According to him, telecommunications have transformed the way of doing things in Nigeria even as he said the commission was making effort to improve the quality of service to Nigerians.

The NCC board chairman said that the commission was currently pushing for a law to classify telecommunications facilities as critical infrastructure.

In his remark, Governor Orji commended the commission for doing what he called “a good job in regulating the activities of service providers in the country.”

Orji described communication as an essential service; he added that his administration was addressing some of the problems confronting the operations of NCC including the issue of multiple taxation and right of ways.