By Mike Gabriel
After decades of frustration in accessing telephone services, Nigerians were relieved when in 2001, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo took a decision that would later transform the nation’s telephone landscape and connectivity ecosystem.
In January that year, the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission auctioned GSM licences.
It was a good business for Nigeria’s economy as the Federal Government racked in excess of $1.2 billon having sold the licences to MTN, Glo, Econet (Airtel) and Etisalat 9mobile) at $208 million each.
By May that year, Econet had made history as the company to make the first GSM call Nigeria with MTN following later in August before the indigenous Globacom (glo) and the rest joined.
At a public event in Lagos Obasanjo juxtaposes the pre-GSM torture Nigerians went through and what is obtainable today: “People had to queue at telephone kiosks to make calls. It was a far cry from the seamless communication we enjoy today but then came the mobile telephone revolution.
“Needless to say that mobile communication has become a powerful tool for liberating Nigerians from the shackles of the once powerful, but now extinct, national telecoms monopoly, popularly known as the Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL); it has significantly contributed positively in boosting economic activities in all sectors in Nigeria,” said Prof. Abiodun Musa Aibinu, a mechatronic engineer at Federal University of Technology, Minna.
According to data released by Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) there are approximately 192.2 million active telephony subscriptions as of mid-2026, with national teledensity reaching around 86.6% of the population.
The GSMA intelligence further estimates total cellular mobile connections at about 183 million (roughly 74.9% of the population), with broadband subscriptions standing at at 123.1 million, translating to a broadband penetration rate of the population.
However, in spite of its success story, challenges remain as acknowledged by Aibinu.
“There is increasing poor quality of service experienced by subscribers which manifests in the forms of: call failure, call drops, and low received signal strength. These problems have continuously been raising a great deal of worries and uncertainty among the populace and the network providers,” said the scholar.
However, one silent but major challenge faced by telephone subscribers in Nigeria both in the past and now remains the high cost of international calls.
Available data shows that on a standard Pay as You Go (PAYG) tariff, the rates range for international calls from N30 to N1,500 per minute depending on the destination of the call.
Mr Austine Ugbebor, Chief Executive Officer of ESDIAC, an indigenous new entrant into the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls market says the platform was designed to address the challenges of expensive international calls and limited connectivity options, particularly for people travelling abroad, with promised international calls of as low as N13.000
He spoke at the unveiling and media engagement on Friday in Abuja, ESDIAC which, he said, integrates Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling, electronic SIM (eSIM), mobile airtime and data top-up services.
It is an all-in-one mobile platform designed to make international calls more affordable and improve connectivity for travellers, businesses and Nigerians both in the diaspora and at home.
ESDIAC was registered in 2011, with first product inaugurated in 2016, with the company spending the intervening years developing its operational structures and securing regulatory and compliance arrangements ahead of its market entry.
“ESDIAC is an all-in-one solution, offering international and local calls, eSIM services and data packages through a single platform.
“With our platform, subscribers can make calls to Canada, United Kingdom, US, Germany, Australia for as low as N13.
“ESDIAC’s VoIP technology enables subscribers to call people who do not have the ESDIAC application or an internet connection, and calls can be made directly to regular telephone numbers,” he said.
He said the service also allows users to retain their phone numbers when making calls, making it easier for recipients to identify callers.
The CEO added that the platform provided mobile airtime and data top-ups, while its eSIM service enabled travelers to access connectivity in supported destinations without necessarily purchasing a physical SIM card.
He further said that the company was committed to offering affordable services and improving the calling experience by addressing connectivity challenges associated with internet-based communication platforms.
On concerns about tariff stability and consumer protection, the CEO said the company had adopted a policy of respecting subscribers’ money by avoiding hidden connectivity charges.
“Subscribers will not be charged additional fees merely for initiating calls, and unused balances will remain available to customers.”
He said subscribers who believed they had been wrongly charged could contact the company’s customer service team for investigation.
“If you are right and there is an error, we promise to refund your money,” he said.
The CEO said ESDIAC operated under the regulatory requirements of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the U.S.
He, however, noted that changes in telecommunications tariffs could sometimes result from regulatory directives, adding that operators were required to comply with applicable regulations.
As the highest policy level, addressing challenges faced by Nigerians on international calls is a priority and the Presidency has thrown its weight behind the ESDIAC project.
Mr Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Office of the Vice-President, described the platform as a promising development for Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.
Fasua said his experience with an expensive eSIM purchased during an international trip, which failed to provide connectivity across all his destinations, underscored the need for more reliable and affordable services.
He expressed hope that ESDIAC would provide better value to travellers through its services.
One major area of concern for Nigerians is data protection. There is no area this is concern is more pronounced than in the telecom sector where Nigerians share their data with either deliberately or otherwise.
The company’s Legal Adviser, Mr Aja Nwaani, has allayed that fear saying the protection of subscribers’ personal information was central to ESDIAC’s operations.
“ESDIAC has put measures in place to ensure that subscribers’ information are not improperly accessed, disclosed or used, including when shared with third-party carriers and service providers,” he said.
He said the company was committed to complying with the Nigeria Data Protection Act and applicable regulations, warning against the unlawful sale or misuse of subscribers’ personal information.
Mr Muhammed Sani, the company’s Human Resources representative, said ESDIAC was established to address the high cost of international calls and connectivity challenges confronting Nigerians.
Sani said the platform was particularly useful to travellers and Nigerians seeking to maintain affordable communication with family members and business associates abroad.
He added that the company’s business solution was also designed to support organisations requiring reliable communication services.
The ESDIAC is another bold step by an indigenous entrepreneur. It aligns with President Bola Tinubu administration’s commitment encouraging private sector investment in the telecom industry and offering Nigerian’s wider telephone options.
“Sustained investment in telecommunications infrastructure is essential to expanding broadband access, improving network capacity, and supporting businesses, education, and economic opportunities across Nigeria,” the President said at a recent public event in Abuja.
Tinubu said the initiative aligns with his administration’s commitment to encouraging private-sector investing, improving digital infrastructure and ensuring Nigerians benefit from more reliable and accessible telecommunications services,” the a statement quoted him as saying during the event.
