Telecommunications operators in Nigeria are presently considering an upward review on the prices of voice calls, data, and other services.
The Association of Licenced Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria–ALTON, had disclosed this information recently while paying a visit to the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani.
ALTON had sought for the approval of the Minister for a suggested telecom price review mechanism, attributing the increased cost of doing business and harsh economic realities as the reason for the price hike proposal.
According to the ALTON chairman Gbenga Adebayo, various sectors of Nigeria’s economy, including insurance and power, have implemented different degrees of tariff increase over the past six years but there has yet to be an increase in the telecoms sector.
Mr Adebayo had said:
“Consumer prices in the other sectors have seen a sharp rise over the last six years as they adjust to reflect the macroeconomic realities.
Meanwhile, telco prices have remained more or less the same and had even declined. Conversely to the price trends in other sectors, telcos have had to adjust to the macroeconomic headwinds caused by a rising erosion of margins.”
Other highly regulated sectors, such as power and insurance, have successfully executed price increases over the past year. Insurance prices have skyrocketed to 200 per cent with electricity costs rising by over 40 per cent.”
The communication minister had responded to the proposal by saying that he would look into all that ALTON had listed, while assuring them that the challenges were not insurmountable.
