…there’s no conclusion on tariff hike yet – ATCIS
Telecom subscribers in Nigeria have rejected the 30-60 per cent tariff increase proposed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, insisting that there should be no increase for now.
Reacting over the weakend, the subscribers under the aegis of the Association of Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS-Nigeria), said the Minister cannot speak for them, saying there is no conclusion on the tariff increase yet.
In a statement yesterday, the National President of ATCIS, Sina Bilesanmi, said a 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.
He 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.
According to him, what was agreed upon at the January 9 Abuja meeting was that
there would be no telecoms tariff hike for now until all the stakeholders, particularly the subscribers, are sufficiently enlightened and sensitised.
The minister, in a TV interview, had said even though the mobile network operators (MNOs) were demanding a 100 per cent increase to stabilise the sector, the government knew that such a level of increase would 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. We have already made it clear that we are not going to approve 100 per cent. These companies are asking for 100 per cent, stating clearly that this is what they believe they need to get.
“But what we are looking at in terms of the sector is that if this is the sector that is responsible for driving growth in our country, it will be harmful to our people to allow MNOs to increase by 100 per cent.”
However, Bilesanmi said it was not the duty of the minister to speak for tariff pricing, insisting that it is the responsibility of the NCC which has already started doing the consultation to do data-based empirical cost analysis.
He said the minister has no power to fix prices in a liberalised market.
“Our resolution was, one, that the telecom operators need to respect the telecom subscriber advocacy body and the act of NCC; that the NCC should tell the telcos to first meet with ATCIS being the telecom subscriber advocacy body for consultation, involvement, enlightenment, and engagement; that once telecom subscriber advocacy body agreed, it will call for public opinions on the per cent rate, and that ATCIS will then write NCC for approval, and anything outside of these may not work.
“As subscribers, we should be in collaboration with NCC because we’re the ones paying the money involved. We agreed at the meeting that there will be no hike but further deliberation and consultation on the issue with relevant stakeholders, especially the MNOs and the subscribers would continue.
“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 when 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 ambition.
“ATCIS is the leading telecom subscriber advocacy body in Nigeria with over 220 million members across 36 states in the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.
“It has a mission to promote mutual co-existence, and fair play, and defend the rights of telecom subscribers, by endorsing and ensuring good products and network service delivery from network operators and service providers to our corporate and individual members, while providing a platform to advance the rights of Telephone, Cable Tv and Internet Subscribers.”
