New Telegraph

ICT stocks gain N223bn in 2 months

Investors in ICT companies quoted on the main and premium boards of the nation’s stock market recorded gain of about N233 billion in the last two months (June and July 2020) following positive market sentiments as coronavirus rages. Checks by New Telegraph revealed that the sub-sector recorded a gain of N233 billion or 6.36 per cent to close at N3.727 trillion in market capitalisation on July 31, as against opening figure of N3.504 trillion at the beginning of trading on June 1. ICT companies are currently taking advantage of the scourge to rake in gains from data subscriptions and voice calls. The Director of Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr Henry Nkemadu, in a statement recently, confirmed the fact that there had been a large amount of voice and data traffic in recent times.

This, according to him, has necessitated the installation of more fibre cables in certain areas in the country to provide the needed capacity. “As a result of the lockdown, the amount of voice and data usage has increased by huge amounts and there is a need to expand the network to provide optimum quality of service to users sitting at home.

Telecom is also critical for information dissemination during the lockdown,” Nkemadu said. Internet traffic has also increased in Lagos and other states where the lockdown, which aims to reduce the spread of coronavirus, has taken effect.

Many workers are leveraging the Internet for online education, teleworking, gaming and entertainment and there has been a rise in Internet traffic recorded by the Internet exchange point. According to reports, the Chief Executive Officer, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, Muhammed Rudman, had said a surge in Internet traffic was noticed on March 31, when the lockdown took effect in selected states, especially in Lagos. According to him, Internet traffic had increased as many companies introduced workfrom- home policy a week before government-imposed lockdown. In the post COVID-19 era, telcos are expected to perform well as the world will be more connected and businesses better prepared for such calamities, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Emma Mohr-McClune Technology Service Director at GlobalData, says: “The global telecom market will face sales challenges due to retail store closures and supply chain disruption, and may also take an average revenue per user (ARPU) hit as states insist on bill waive programs to keep the financially weak sectors of society online. “Customer support lines will also be affected, as call center staff are required to work from home wherever possible. 5G spectrum auctions and rollouts are facing delays in several countries.” In the long-term the outlook remains positive, as reliable connectivity becomes a critical commodity. McClune added: “Coming out of COVID-19, millions of users worldwide will be more connected and more familiar with digital tools.

“Telco networks will have gained first-hand experience in dynamic network traffic management while businesses and their telco partners will have a better understanding of the challenges of homeworking. “The need for robotic health workers, biometric virus predictors and AI health management tools will provide new use cases and investment justification for 5G. “The situation will provide a shot in the arm for telco innovation around AI and machine learning and a catalyst for app and solution innovation ecosystems.”

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