Nigerians should be prepared to pay more for telecom services, including calls and data as the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), considers an upward review in the tariff they charge for these services. ALTON said the current rates are not sustainable.
Speaking on Thursday in Lagos during a stakeholders’ meeting with the newly appointed Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, ALTON chairman, Mr Gbenga Adebayo said the rising cost of operations in the country has continued to make it difficult for telecom service providers to retain the current tariff regime.
“Our current pricing regime is no longer sustainable. That is the fact, with the way things are going, I am not sure we can sustain this sector with the current pricing regime,” he said.
Adebayo added that operators are burdened by 52 taxes across the country. He pleaded with the EVC to intervene in the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debts owed them by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), which he noted has now hit N200 billion.
The ALTON chairman threatened that the total debt must be paid, else the association would not hesitate to block debtor banks from accessing the service.
In his response , the new NCC EVC noted that the government sees the telecom sector as critical to the economy, and as such, his action would be guided by the Renewed Agenda of President Bola Tinubu and the policy guidelines enumerated by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani.
He assured the stakeholders of his support and commitment to the growth of the sector, while urging players in the industry to improve the quality of their services as well as boost job creation in the country.
