From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) has threatened to take legal action against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the recent approval of a 50 percent tariff increase for telecommunications services.
NCC, on Monday granted permission for telecommunications companies to raise their tariffs, a move that has sparked backlash from consumer advocacy groups.
The NCC’s decision was influenced by requests from the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), who e have been calling for an upward review of call tariffs due to inflation.
The associations had initially advocated for a 100 percent increase, but the NCC eventually limited the increase to 50 percent, a decision that still does not go down well with subscribers.
Deolu Ogunbanjo, president of NATCOMS, criticized the NCC for excluding subscribers from the discussion, stating that the association had proposed a more modest tariff increase of only 5 to 10 percent.
Ogunbanjo warned against the potential ripple effects of such significant increase on the economy and citizens.
“The federal government’s approved 50 percent tariff hike is unacceptable. This will affect everyone from the biggest industry to the smallest company, such as the Point of Service (POS) operators. It will increase operational costs,” he said.
Ogunbanjo further noted that economic experts have assessed the telecoms sector as being in intensive care, adding that there is an urgent need for careful management.
“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 stated.
He added that while NATCOMS reluctantly agreed to a moderate increase to support the struggling industry, a 50 percent hike was excessive.
“We said, okay, we will not mind if it is just a five percent to 10 percent increase. 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,” he said.
To address the industry’s financial needs, Ogunbanjo suggested that telecom operators consider alternative funding options, such as exploring the Nigerian stock exchange for financing through Initial Public Offers (IPOs).