By Chukwudi Obasi
The federal government has succumbed to operators’ pressure to increase telecommunication services tariffs.
By implication, telecommunications users are to pay higher charges.
However, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani said the hike will be below the 100 percent increase requested by service providers.
The Minister disclosed this yesterday during an industry stakeholder’s forum in Abuja.
Tijani said, “The essence of this gathering is recognizing the telecom sector’s critical role in driving Nigeria’s economic development.
“Tariff will go up. That’s the verdict. But it won’t be by 100 per cent. We need to ensure that as a sector, we put the right regulations in place that can ensure the growth of this sector, continue to contribute to job creation, and enable other key sectors in the country as well.”
This implies that calls, data, and SMS prices will increase for the average Nigerian.
*NCC: Adjustments to be accompanied by measures to simplify billing systems, increase in transparency
Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission (NCC), also said that tariff adjustments would be accompanied by measures to simplify billing systems and increase transparency.
He said, “We’ve revised our quality of service regulations, bringing the entire value chain into scope for compliance, from MNOs to tower codes and transmission companies. So, when we do see these tariff modifications, they’ll also come with simplification.
“So every MNO or every service provider must comply with a simplified template to show Nigerians what you are charging per minute, per voice, per SMS, and per megabyte of data.”
