Telecom companies in Nigeria are warning that they might have to cut back on their services unless they can charge more money for them.
Gbenga Adebayo, who leads Nigeria’s main phone company association (ALTON), made this announcement on Monday. He says phone companies are really struggling right now because everything costs more due to inflation, the value of Nigeria’s money keeps changing, and energy costs are going up.
Even with all these rising costs, phone companies haven’t been allowed to raise their prices. This makes it hard for them to keep their service quality good and build new cell towers.
Adebayo warns that if nothing changes, they’ll have to reduce services in some areas. Here’s exactly what he said:
“If nothing is done, we might begin to see in the new year grim consequences unfolding, such as service shedding.
“Operators may not be able to provide services in some areas and at some times of the day leaving millions disconnected, there will be significant economic fallout, because businesses will suffer from a lack of connectivity, stalling growth and innovation.
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“There will also be national economic disruption where key sectors like security, commerce, healthcare, and education which rely heavily on telecom infrastructure, will face serious disruptions.”
When phone companies talk about “service shedding,” they mean they’ll have to turn off or limit phone service in certain places or at certain times because they can’t afford to keep everything running.
Adebayo says phone companies are spending so much money that they can’t keep up, which makes it hard to keep their equipment modern and working well. While he hopes things can get better, he says these problems won’t fix themselves – something needs to change soon.
The companies first asked to raise their prices in April 2024, but nothing has happened yet.