Telephone subscribers will have to pay more as the Federal Government has approved a tariff increase for telecommunications operators in the country.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Abuja.
According to Dr. Tijani, the government has been engaging with telecom operators to arrive at an acceptable rate. He assured Nigerians that the new tariffs would not be as high as the 100% increase requested by the operators.
“You have seen over the past weeks that there has been agitation from some of these companies to increase tariff. They are requesting for 100 per cent tariff increase.
“But it will not be by 100 per cent. We are still looking at that study and NCC will come up with a clear directive on how we will go about it.
“We want to strike the balance as a government to protect our people, but also protect and ensure that these companies can continue to invest significantly.
Bosun Tijani
“We need to ensure that as a sector, we get our acts together, ensure that from the regulation side, we put the right regulations in place that can ensure the growth of this sector.”
According to Dr Tijani, the government would no longer leave investments in infrastructure to private companies alone. He emphasized the importance of meaningful connectivity, saying that consumers want access to high-quality services.
Meanwhile, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, also spoke at the meeting. He said that the NCC had put in place measures to ensure that telecom operators comply with quality of service regulations. He also assured Nigerians that the new tariffs would be made public soon.
“We are moving away from the regime where you will have a main rate, then you will now have a bonus which is at a different rate.
“It makes it often complicated and difficult for Nigerians to actually understand what they are being charged for.
“This is one of the things when we took a lot of time over the past year looking at data there is this agitation that the MNOs are stealing our data,” he said.
The CEO of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, represented by Femi Adeniran, Airtel’s media spokesperson, noted that the proposed tariff adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector.
