Subscribers have strongly criticized the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, for suggesting a potential telecom tariff increase ranging from 30% to 60%.
The Association of Telephone, Cable TV, and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS-Nigeria), representing over 220 million subscribers across the country, stated that this proposed hike contradicts the agreements reached between the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Consumer Bureau Department and stakeholders during a meeting on January 9, 2025, at the NCC headquarters in Abuja.
The group asserts that the Minister lacks the authority to unilaterally determine prices in a liberalized market.
Sina Bilesanmi, National President of ATCIS, emphasized that a tariff hike was not discussed or agreed upon during the Abuja meeting. He questioned the Minister’s rationale for advocating for an increase that would further burden struggling Nigerians amidst ongoing economic challenges.
Bilesanmi clarified that the January 9th meeting focused on ensuring adequate stakeholder consultation and sensitization before any potential tariff adjustments. He emphasized the importance of a collaborative approach, involving subscribers through their representative body, ATCIS.
Minister Tijani, in a recent television interview, acknowledged the mobile network operators’ (MNOs) demand for a 100% increase to stabilize the sector. However, he stated that the government would not approve such a drastic measure, citing its potential negative impact on the populace. He suggested a more moderate increase between 30% and 60%.
Bilesanmi countered this statement, asserting that pricing decisions within the telecom sector are the purview of the NCC, which employs experts to conduct data-driven cost analyses. He said, “Our resolution were that telcos needed to respect the subscriber advocacy body and
NCC Act; NCC should tell telcos to first meet with ATCIS being the telecom subscriber advocacy body for consultation involvement, enlightenment & and engagement.
3.Once telecom subscriber advocacy body agreed, it will call for public opinions percent rate, ATCIS then write NCC for approval, and anything outside of these may not work, as Telecom Subscriber advocacy bodies we should have say here in collaboration with NCC because we’re the one paying the money involved. We agreed at the meeting that there will be no hike, but a further deliberation / consultation is still going on the issue with relevant stakeholders, especially the MNOs and the subscribers to meet.
“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.
According to Bilesanmi, any tariff hike will do more harm than good to the subscribers at a time they are struggling to cope. “It will further impoverish our members, especially small business owners whose offices and shops are their mobile phones and laptops. A hike in voice and data prices without recourse to the subscribers will spell doom for their business,” he said, adding that it might slow down the gains of the government’s digital economy’s ambitions.
Daily Sun
