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Abstract
The study examined the corrupt practices by telecommunication service providers in Nigeria and their impacts on the efficiency of telecom services in the country. Specifically, the focused on identifying the different categories of corrupt practices by the telecom service providers and their collective impact on service availability, quality of service, and their cost of service. In order to achieve these objectives, the study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design, using primary data. The population consisted of all active telecommunication users (subscribers) in the six (6) South-South States in Nigeria (i.e. Akwa-Ibom = 3,102,760; Bayelsa = 1,102,570;
Cross-River = 2,274,165; Delta = 5,328,096; Edo = 5,169,076 and Rivers State = 6,270,011), totalling 23,246,678 subscribers (i.e. GSM and others) as at the second quarter (Q2) of 2018. The Taro Yamani’s formula was employed in systematically scaling down the sample to four hundred (400) participants for convenient sake which were chosen randomly among the subscribers of the four (4) major service providers in Nigeria (MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile). Both descriptive statistics and the simple linear regression techniques were used for the analysis. The results showed an inverse and non-significant relationship between level of corrupt practices, telecom service availability and quality of telecom service. This implies that higher levels of corrupt practice by telecom operators have the tendency of reducing telecom service availability and quality, but not significantly. However, the relationship between level of corrupt practices and cost of service is positive and statistically significant meaning that higher level of corrupt practice by telecom network providers is strongly associated with high cost of telecom services (tariffs). The study concludes that the level of corrupt practices by telecom network providers is not associated with the quality and availability of the telecommunication service in Nigeria. The study recommends, among others, that stiffer sanctions, such as withdrawal of licence, should be meted out to network providers found to be engaging in corrupt practices and/or exploitative services capable of short-changing the subscribing public
Cross-River = 2,274,165; Delta = 5,328,096; Edo = 5,169,076 and Rivers State = 6,270,011), totalling 23,246,678 subscribers (i.e. GSM and others) as at the second quarter (Q2) of 2018. The Taro Yamani’s formula was employed in systematically scaling down the sample to four hundred (400) participants for convenient sake which were chosen randomly among the subscribers of the four (4) major service providers in Nigeria (MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile). Both descriptive statistics and the simple linear regression techniques were used for the analysis. The results showed an inverse and non-significant relationship between level of corrupt practices, telecom service availability and quality of telecom service. This implies that higher levels of corrupt practice by telecom operators have the tendency of reducing telecom service availability and quality, but not significantly. However, the relationship between level of corrupt practices and cost of service is positive and statistically significant meaning that higher level of corrupt practice by telecom network providers is strongly associated with high cost of telecom services (tariffs). The study concludes that the level of corrupt practices by telecom network providers is not associated with the quality and availability of the telecommunication service in Nigeria. The study recommends, among others, that stiffer sanctions, such as withdrawal of licence, should be meted out to network providers found to be engaging in corrupt practices and/or exploitative services capable of short-changing the subscribing public
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