Olusegun Ariyo
Nigerians have taken to social media over a planned increase of 50 percent in calls, data and other telecommunication tariffs as it vows to drag the federal government to court
The President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo and the National Spokesperson for the Association of Mobile Money & Bank Agents in Nigeria, Ogungbayi Ganiyu made these positions known on Monday in separate exclusive interviews with Newsmen
This comes as the Nigerian Communications Commission on Monday gave mobile network operators approval to increase service tariffs by at most 50 percent.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, had hinted
That telecom tariffs will go up by either 30 or 50 percent
His position came from a fallout of a meeting between him and operators who had proposed a 100 percent tariff increase.
Urban Express News Online reports that the latest telecom tariff hike approval comes 13 years after NCC announced the price template in 2013.
the latest tariff hike approval explains that upon implementation, Nigerians may be paying N16.5 per minute for calls from N11, the cost of SMS to N6 from N4, and the cost of 1 gigabit of data – N431.25.
Also, telcos may rank in N6.7 trillion annually in revenue from calls only with the new tariff regime; this is because 2023 national telephone traffic data showed that total outgoing telephone traffic was 205.3 billion minutes, while incoming traffic stood at 203.2 billion minutes.
The Association of Mobile Money & Bank Agents in Nigeria said with the 50 percent telecoms hike, its members may have no option but to increase service charges.
Ogungbayi Ganiyu, the National Public Relations Officer at AMMBAN, disclosed this in an interview with Newsmen on Monday.
According to him, members’ services are centred around telecom services, especially data, and hence would be most impacted.
He, however, noted that POS operators may desire to bear the cost of the increased telecoms tariff.
“The telecom tariff hike will impact the operations of our members. I am afraid this may also have a multiplier effect on service charges.
“We have not sat down and looked at the latest tariff hike.
“However, the telecom service hike may not affect our operations.
“Our members may decide to bear the burden of the hike.
“Just like bankers, POS operators should be treated with respect in the banking sector because we are assisting them to reach the hinterlands,” he stated.
The tariff hike, which is expected to kick off in February 2025, has been described as yet another policy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to impoverish Nigerians.
Ogunbanjo, on his part, said the hike would affect both small and big companies across the country.
“This tariff will be enormous. Every business will increase its tariff. From the companies to the ordinary POS operators.
“This will cause further impoverishment of Nigerians,” he said.
Urban Express News Online reports that for months, MNOs had continued to push for a tariff hike.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians on Social media have continued to criticize the developments saying the government has remained insensitive to the plight of the people.
@kennyforrew believes the idea is not necessary for now that the country is grappling with its economy and livelihood, it should rather decapitate energy more on how Nigerian can be lifted from worsening poverty bedevilling it
@segunibrahim wants the government to consider the larger statistics of the youths that are unemployed and the fact that they are the one using it more other ones in that category.
