Telecom operators in Nigeria have announced plans to implement new tariffs in response to a 50 percent hike approved by the Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission.
These revised tariffs are expected to take effect in March 2025.
Speaking with journalists, content creators, and other stakeholders in Lagos over the weekend, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, revealed that operators would introduce their tariffs at different times.
He explained that the operators were currently in the process of filing, reviewing, and seeking approval from the regulator.
“We are now following what is called the regulatory requirement, regulatory steps of filing, reviewing and obtaining approvals,” Adebayo said. “As soon as those approvals come through, different players will introduce new rates as the time comes. I’ll say over next week, we start seeing some improvement in the prices.”
Adebayo emphasized that the tariff increase was necessary for the sustainability of the telecoms sector, arguing that the government should not depend on it to subsidize other industries.
“The other side of it is that the sector cannot be the subsidy for other sectors. Our cost should be reflective of the economy. Telecoms can’t be used as palliative,” he remarked.
He further explained that telecom operators could not continue offering services at unsustainable prices, especially in light of rising costs in other areas of the economy.
“So, you can’t say because the costs of garri, pepper and okra have gone up, we now have to subsidize peoples’ living by providing services that are sold at lower than cost. It’s a matter of time before we start seeing the negatives,” he noted.
Adebayo concluded by stressing the need for operators to charge sustainable rates, asserting that the telecom sector could not bear the burden of other sectors’ challenges.
“I think it is important that we need to charge rates that are sustainable, and we can’t stand as a subsidy for the problems of people in other sectors, which is not the problem caused by the operators,” he said.
