The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) recorded a 13.7% increase in revenue to N$103.9 million for the 2024 financial year, compared to N$91.4 million in 2023.
According to CRAN’s latest annual report, the revenue surge was primarily driven by proceeds from the 700MHz–800MHz spectrum auction, significantly boosting the spectrum revenue stream.
“The revenue comprises various components, including regulatory levies from Telecommunications and Broadcasting Service Licensees, spectrum fees, revenues from numbering plans, and type approval fees,” CRAN said.
Furthermore, the regulatory levies invoiced to Telecommunications and Broadcasting Service Licensees constitute 39.2% and 5.9% of the revenue, respectively.
“A significant portion of the revenue, amounting to 53.0%, is generated from spectrum fees derived from radio licenses. Regulatory levies are calculated based on a progressive license fee formula that caps the maximum percentage at 1%, calculated as a percentage of the operators’ turnover,” noted the report.
Type approval fees account for 0.5% of the total revenue and stem from charges for using telecommunications equipment in Namibia.
Additionally, numbering fees contribute 1.1% to the revenue of Telecommunications Licensees utilising numbering plans.
Meanwhile, during the corresponding period, a total operating expenditure of N$100.8 million was incurred, which resulted in a 1.9% budget surplus compared to the budget of N$102.8 million.
Notably, the Authority generated negative cash flows from operating activities, amounting to N$17.7 million (compared to N$49.4 million in 2023).
“This negative outcome was attributed primarily to the increase in trade receivables, which arose from the regulatory levies charged at year-end as a result of the outcome of the Supreme Court Appeal Judgement that was delivered on 13 March 2024 and the Authority resuming the billing of regulatory levies. The regulatory levies charged were not collected at the financial year-end,” said the report.
On the other hand, the authority noted that several challenges have impacted their ability to fully implement some strategic initiatives.
These include inadequate cross-functional departmental cooperation, which can delay project execution, and the delay of amended national policies and legislation to enable CRAN to respond to evolving technological evolution.
“Limited budgetary provisions for necessary interventions and ad hoc expenses also pose a challenge, alongside time-consuming procurement processes that delay the acquisition of goods and services,” said CRAN.
Additionally, non-proactive retention measures and high employee turnover further complicated CRAN’s efforts to fully execute its strategic initiatives.
“Ongoing litigation by licensees and an unexpectedly high exchange rate have also negatively affected certain budget lines,” noted CRAN.
