Telecom
Tizeti Secures $3 Million Series A Fund to Expand Unlimited Internet Service into Ghana
Nigerian ISP start-up Tizeti and its consumer facing brand, Wifi.com.ng has closed a Series A round of $3M, led by 4DX Ventures with participation from existing investors Y Combinator Continuity, Lynett Capital, Social Capital, Western Technology Investment, Friále and Golden Palm Investments.
This follows on from the company’s Seed investment of $2.1M in 2017.
Tizeti will use this investment to expand operations outside of Nigeria, and will launch a new consumer-facing brand Wifi. Africa later this year, starting with neighbouring West African country, Ghana.
The company will also make additional investments in operations, product development and overall customer experience, with a view toward growing profitability exponentially.
The company which operates widely as a “Comcast for Africa”, builds and operates solar-powered towers in Nigeria, while also providing residences, businesses, events and conferences with unlimited high speed broadband internet access, covering over 70% of Lagos.
Since graduating from Y Combinator’s Winter 2017 batch, Tizeti has installed over 7,000 public Wifi hotspots within Nigeria with 150,000 users and in November 2017, announced a partnership with Facebook to offer Express Wi-Fi in the country, to roll out hundreds of internet hotspots across Nigeria’s capital.
Kendall Ananyi, CEO and Co-Founder of Tizeti says, “Tizeti was built to tackle poor internet connectivity not only in Nigeria, but on the continent as a whole, by developing a cost-effective solution from inception to delivery, for reliable and uncapped internet access for potentially millions of Africans.
We have grown rapidly in the Nigerian market in the last 12 months and expect to continue on this trajectory, as millions more Africans come online.
This Series A investment allows us to continue providing a peerless service in Nigeria, building out our customer base there, as well as scale across Africa, starting with Ghana”.
Through it’s innovative use of solar-powered base stations, Tizeti is able to significantly reduce operating costs which allow the company to be hyper-competitive when it comes to subscription packages; a Wifi.com.ng unlimited plan in Nigeria currently costs $30/mth [NGN9, 500].
This, alongside the company’s extensive coverage reach, has given Tizeti a competitive edge in the ISP sector, establishing the young company as an ICT and tech infrastructure leader.
As part of this financing round, Walter Baddoo Co-Founder & Managing Partner of 4DX Ventures joins Tizeti’s Board of Directors.
Baddoo says “Reducing the cost of data in Africa is a critical step in accelerating the pace of internet adoption across the continent.
Tizeti, driven by a stellar company culture, has built a world-class network that delivers data to users at a fraction of the current cost. Tizeti makes it easier and cheaper to connect Africa to the global digital economy and we are excited to partner with Kendall and his team on this mission.”
Telecom
Telcos Generated N5.3 Trillion Revenue in 2023 – NCC
Telecommunications operators in Nigeria generated N5.3 trillion in revenue from their services in 2023, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This was disclosed in the NCC’s 2023 year-end performance report titled “2023 Subscriber/Network Performance Report,” released early this week.
The report detailed revenue contributions, with GSM operators earning N4 trillion; fixed wired operators generating N273.01 million; Internet Service Providers (ISPs) earning N89.81 billion; Value Added Service Providers (VAS) contributing N14.56 billion; collocation and infrastructure sharing players bringing in N1.14 trillion; and other operators generating N41.84 billion.
The NCC highlighted a rise in active subscriptions, which grew from 222.57 million in 2022 to 224.71 million by December 2023, while data consumption exceeded 713 terabytes.
The telecom sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP increased from 13.55% in 2022 to 14% in 2023.
Capital expenditure (CAPEX) in the sector reached N990.55 billion, reflecting robust domestic investments.
Meanwhile, operating costs among telecom operators amounted to N3.16 trillion.
However, the report noted a decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector, which stood at $134.75 million in 2023, compared to $399.91 million in 2022, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Year-on-year, active voice subscriptions grew by 0.96%, with an increase of 2.14 million new subscriptions recorded in 2023.
The NCC emphasized the continued growth and financial performance across all segments of the telecommunications market during the year under review.
Telecom
FG Blames Telecoms Tariff Hike on Global Inflation, Operational Cost
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy has attributed the recent increase in tariffs by mobile network operators (MNOs) to the global inflation and rising cost of operation.
Tijani said this while briefing journalists after a closed-door budget defence session with the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Information, Communication and Technology on Tuesday in Abuja.
He noted that telcos have struggled with high operation cost for several years in addition to global inflationary pressures.
The minister stated that the government was committed to ensuring the sustainability of telecommunication sector and protection of Nigerians’ interest.
“The hike in price is based on inflation globally. This is a sector that has not increased prices for a long time, what the government has been doing is managing the situation. They have been crying out for a long time that they are struggling with the cost of diesel. This is not a problem that is unique to Nigerians.
“We will ensure that MNOs can continue to deliver the best quality services to the people,” adding that “the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is doing a lot of tracking now to ensure that the quality of the services that people will get is of good quality.”
Telecom
MTN Nigeria Says 50 Percent Tariff Wike will Services
MTN Nigeria has said that the approval of a 50 percent tariff adjustment for telecommunications companies (telcos) will go a long way to improving the country’s critical infrastructure and services.
In a statement on Tuesday signed by Uto Ukpanah, company secretary, and published on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), MTN Nigeria said the adjustment will empower millions of people and businesses and contribute to the country’s overall economic development.
On December 30, 2024, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) warned that its members might begin shedding services if urgent action is not taken to review tariffs, as the Nigerian telecommunications industry is facing critical challenges.
Also, on January 1, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) asked the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to review call tariffs upwards by the first quarter of 2025.
Two days later, Karl Toriola, the chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, said telcos wanted a 100 percent increase in tariffs.
However, on January 20, the NCC approved a 50 percent tariff increase — the first hike in 12 years.
Addressing the adjustment, MTN Nigeria said it is a “significant milestone in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the telecoms industry, supporting the country’s critical infrastructure and services”.
On his part, Toriola said the tariff increase represents an important step towards addressing the impacts of the prevailing economic challenges on the business and industry.
“We deeply appreciate the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the NCC and our industry bodies for their continued support in ensuring the telecoms sector remains sustainable,” he said.
“This tariff adjustment represents an important step towards addressing the impacts of the prevailing economic challenges on our business and industry.
“It will enable us to maintain the critical investments required to deliver reliable, high-quality services to Nigerians.”
Toriola said the company remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda and driving inclusive growth for all stakeholders.
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