Subscribers have faulted the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, for saying the industry will witness a hike of between 30 per cent and 60 per cent in end user telecom tariffs.
They said the minister’s statement was contrary to the agreements reached between the Consumer Bureau Department of the Commission Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and stakeholders at a meeting convened on January 9, 2025 at the NCC headquarters in Abuja.
The subscribers, acting under the aegis of Association of Telephone, Cable Tv and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS-Nigeria), also said the minister has no power to fix price in a liberalised market.
President of ATCIS, Sina Bilesanmi, said tariff hike was not one of the issues agreed upon with the regulator in Abuja, wondering why the minister is interested in hiking tariffs to the detriment of struggling Nigerians still reeling under the impact of economic reforms.
According to him, what was agreed upon at the January 9 Abuja meeting was that there will be no telecoms tariff hike for now until all the stakeholders, particularly the subscribers, are sufficiently enlightened and sensitised.
Tijani, in a television interview, had said even though the mobile network operators (MNOs) are saying a 100 per cent increase is what is needed to stabilise the sector, the government knows that such a level of increase will be harmful to the people.
On the threshold of the expected hike, he said: “I think it should not be more than anywhere between 30 to 60 per cent.”
But Bilesanmi said it was not the duty of the minister to speak to telecom sector pricing, a delicate area in which the NCC employs consultants to do data based empirical cost analysis.
“We agreed at the meeting that there will be no hike but a further deliberation on the issue with relevant stakeholders, especially the MNOs and the subscribers.
“The MNOs, through their representatives (ATCON and ALTON) were supposed to organise an enlightenment/sensitisation programme to address the issues. The MNOs were supposed to discuss the percentage increment with the subscribers’ representatives after which it will be taken to the subscribers for discussion. At the end of the meetings, we were expected to communicate an equilibrium price (a fair price agreeable to all) to the NCC for final approval,” he said.
