Erhuvwu Etarhienyo
The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) has declared its plans to challenge the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in court over the recent approval of a 50 percent tariff increase.
On January 20, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) granted approval for telecommunications companies to adjust their tariffs upward. The decision was made after the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) advocated for a tariff review to address their concerns.
MTN Nigeria’s CEO, Karl Toriola, stated that telecommunications companies had originally sought a 100 percent increase in tariffs. However, the NCC approved only a 50 percent increase, granting half of what was requested.
Deolu Ogunbanjo, president of NATCOMS, expressed criticism of the NCC, accusing the commission of excluding subscribers from the decision-making process regarding the tariff increase.
Ogunbanjo clarified that while NATCOMS acknowledged the difficulties within the telecommunications sector, the association had suggested a more modest tariff increase of 5 to 10 percent. He deemed the approved 50 percent increase as unacceptable.
“This will affect everyone from the biggest industry to the smallest company, such as the Point of Service (POS) operators,” Ogunbanjo said. “It will increase operational costs.”
He also mentioned that economic experts had assessed the telecommunications sector and determined that it was in a critical state, necessitating immediate action.
“We now depend on telecoms for our meetings, for the banks, everybody depends on it even the education sector, yes, a lot of things depend on it,” he said.
“So, that is why we painfully agreed that, look, a moderate or marginal five percent to 10 percent increase will be fine.
“You know, we do not mind an increase if it is to salvage the industry that is helping us, that means so much to us and that is also contributing double-digit to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“So, we appreciate that. It’s painful, but we agreed. We said, okay, we will not mind if it is just a five percent to 10 percent increase.”
Ogunbanjo recommended that instead of enforcing a significant tariff increase, telecom operators should consider other financing methods, such as raising capital through the Nigerian Exchange.
“The industry operators can opt for an Initial Public Offer (IPO) for Nigerians to buy shares in their companies as a way of raising funds,” Ogunbanjo added.
“However, a situation where a whole 50 percent is granted for tariff hike is not cheap and it is a no! no! from us subscribers. I mean, for what we are
already going through, no for us, we will challenge this in court.”
On January 16, Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, assured that any increase in telecom tariffs would be capped at 60 per cent.
