An assessment of the level of availability of technological capabilities in the Nigerian telecommunications industry

摘要

Today, telecommunications is not just a means for personal communication. It is now the number one vehicle for commerce, business, communication, governance, research, design, development, and education among others. It is in recognition of the all-important pervasive effects of telecommunications that this study examined the level of availability of technological capabilities in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria.Purposive sampling method was used to acquire data from five major sectors in the industry, which were: telecommunications service providers, equipment suppliers, training institutions, industry regulators, and a section of the private sector which was referred to as other providers. The questionnaires were administered to 110 respondents with a retrieval rate of 86%. The data collected were analyzed using Z statistics. A benchmark of population proportion of 0.6 was established against which the sample proportion is compared to accept or reject the hypothesis regarding the degree of availability of each capability.The results obtained showed that five technological capabilities were needed for an efficient telecommunications system. They were investment capability, service production capability, major change capability, linkage capability and R&D capability. The study showed that investment and service production capability were in abundant supply in the industry. Major change capability was found to be available but in short supply, while linkage and R&D capabilities were found to be rarely available.