Telecom Operators Beg Subscribers to Accept 50% Tariff Hike

The president of the Association of Licenced Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr Gbenga Adebayo, made this appeal at an event tagged Forum with Telcoms CEOs’ over the weekend in Lagos.

The programme was held as part of stakeholders’ engagement following the recent 50 per cent hike in tariffs by the industry regulator, the first time since 2013.

Mr Adebayo said that the industry’s sustainability was crucial to driving the economic and essential infrastructure, noting that it had been a long journey for all in the sector and that the tariff hike was for the good of the economy.

“You may observe that in all the conversations we have had, and in responding to all the brilliant questions that have been raised here today, we have not spoken about profit.

“So, we have been talking about industry sustainability so that we can continue to be the driver of the economy and the development of infrastructure.

“My appeal is that subscribers are the reasons why we are in business, we would not be having this conversation if we do not have the subscribers interest at heart,” he said.

Mr Adebayo assured subscribers that the new tariff regime would bring about improved services, more understandable pricing and increased support for the economy, saying that the dynamics that led to the recent tariff review were influenced by various factors, including the price of diesel among others.

He said that if those factors were to change rapidly, the industry would also be forced to review its prices again.

On the issue of price control, he said that it would not benefit anyone, citing the example of the electricity sector where price control had not yielded the desired results.

Mr Adebayo also said that leaving tariffs to market forces would ultimately benefit subscribers, as long as there were no interference that could disrupt the market.

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Corporate Relations Officer of the NCC, Mr Tobechukwu Okigbo, attributed the collapse of prices in the telecoms sector to the regulatory efforts of his organisation.

Mr Okigbo said that the prices went down from N14,000 SIM to almost free SIM due to the work NCC had done over time, submitting that the regulator’s role in price control could be minimised if the industry were to reach a point where approvals were no longer required for every single issue.