Tariff increase: Telecom operators target service improvement within three months 

Speaking at the weekend during a forum of telecom CEOs and the media on the recently approved 50% increase in tariff, the Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Tobe Okigbo, said the operators have already begun the process of ordering new equipment to boost capacity.

“From NCC’s estimation, they expect that in three months, we should be seeing an uplift in service quality, but we will try to make it shorter because the truth is that the better the quality, the more money you spend, and the better for us.  

“The mistake people make is that sometimes people think that telecommunication companies benefit from more quality. Every time you drop a call, we lose money; every time you’re unable to browse, we lose money,” Okigbo stated.

Outside the issue of cost that will be addressed with the tariff increase, Okigbo noted that there are several other factors that impact quality of service in the telecom sector.

“But if the extraneous factors are not resolved, I am sorry to say, we’ll have another conversation in three months.  

“If the frequency of fibre cuts continues, if people continue to steal batteries from base stations; if people continue to steal diesel from the sites, I think in three months we’ll have a different conversation,” he said.

While seeking subscribers’ understanding on the recently approved 50% increase in tariff, Adebayo said the hike was for the good of the economy as the sustainability of the telecom industry was under severe threat.

Also speaking at the forum, the Director Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Femi Adeniran, said the telecom operators in reaching out to the government for price increments had the customers in mind.

This, he said, was to ensure sustainability and availability of telecommunications to millions of Nigerians.

“We want to be able to serve our customers. Today there are over 100 million Nigerians connected to voice. And when you talk about voice, you’re talking about the lowest of the lowest. 

“I have people who, because they can make calls, they’re not spending as much as they would have spent on transportation. So, these are some of the drivers,” he said.

The NCC had on January 20 announced that it had approved a 50% tariff adjustment for telecom operators, citing rising operational costs and the need to sustain the industry.