Osamagbe Imadiyi
On Monday, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) announced that it would file a legal challenge against the Federal Government for permitting telecom operators to raise their rates by 50%.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, President of NATCOMS, stated that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) did not include it in the agreement. According to Ogunbanjo, NATCOMS had proposed a five to ten percent marginal increase in tariffs because it recognized the predicament the telecom sector was facing.
He said it was unacceptable that the federal government had allowed telecom operators to raise tariffs, with a maximum increase of 50%.
Ogunbanjo claims that earlier economic experts had examined the telecom industry and declared it to be in critical condition, requiring immediate attention.
“Today, we rely on telecommunications for our meetings, for the banks, for many other things, including the education sector. For this reason, we painfully decided that a modest or moderate increase of five to ten percent would be acceptable.
“You know, if the increase is necessary to save the industry that is assisting us—which is very important to us and contributes double digits to Nigeria’s GDP—we do not mind it.” We are grateful for that. Although it hurts, we gave in. “All right, we will not mind if it is only a five to ten percent increase,” he said.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which oversees the sector, said in a statement on Monday that it had granted operators’ requests to raise tariffs, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
This is stated in a statement signed by Dr. Reuben Muoka, the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs. The NCC stated that, in response to current operating costs, it had authorized a maximum tariff adjustment increase of 50%.
