Telecommunication Sector and Economic Growth of Nigeria: A Post Deregulation Evaluation

The study employed multiple regression analysis model specified based on hypothesized functional relationship between telecommunication infrastructure development and economic growth of Nigeria during post deregulation period. The model for the study was estimated using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique, and further evaluation was executed using chi-square to investigate the views of respondents on whether GSM has increased market access and reducing distribution cost in carrying out daily economic activities in Nigeria. The outcomes showed that telecommunication has influenced the country’s economy by increasing market access and reducing distribution cost. Therefore, to enhance economic growth in Nigeria, government should issue more licenses to GSM operators in order to allow for healthy competition among the GSM operators. On the other hand, operators should consider the strategy of co-location and infrastructure sharing for further improvement and reduction in cost of running telecommunication business in Nigeria.

Keywords:

Telecommunication sector , economic growth , Nigeria , post deregulation period , market access , distribution cost