Telcom Operators make U-turn over tariff hike
…Begin dialogue with stakeholders for possible alternative
By Uthman Salami
The Telecommunication Operators have retracted the threat to raise tariffs due to what they considered as increasing cost of Diesel, forex rate and other issues bedeviling the sector.
The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Gbenga Adebayo made this assurance yesterday.
He disclosed that Telcos have begun working with other stakeholders to see the best possible way in order to continue business without reviewing the tariffs.
According to him, “There are no such plans, we guarantee that there will be continuous service availability to all citizens in all places at all times,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“We don’t have plans for tariff review. We are consulting with our regulators and others in government to see what kind of sustainability we can have for the industry. We have no immediate plan to review public tariff.”
Recall that the Operators had threatened to review tariffs if the federal government failed to attend to challenges hampering the efficiency of sector
The Operators, which include Globacom, Airtel, MTN and others, have resolved to raise tariffs if critical issues currently affecting the industry are not fully addressed.
Concerns ranging from the seizure of cellular sites in Kogi, degrading quality of services in Abuja, high cost of diesel, inflation and safety of telecom workers are the issues presently bedeviling the telecom industry, Adebayo disclosed.
He added that the telecom operators had expressed their concern about the closing down of telecommunications facilities in Kogi State because of disputes arising from taxes and levies demanded by the Kogi State Government through the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS).
“The action by KIRS was hinged on an ex parte court order obtained by the KIRS over unsubstantiated allegations that our members are in default of tax payments to the state government (which is not the truth) and access to these critical telecom sites has been denied.
“This issue is likely to lead to a total communications blackout in the entire Kogi State, parts of Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and possible impact on service availability in some parts of the following States, Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States.
“These are States sharing borders with Kogi State,” the ALTON’s chairman, who also doubles as the joint spokesman for all the telecom operators, said.
The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the office of the Director for Signage & Advertisement has refused to grant telecommunication service providers a permit to build infrastructure in the Federal Capital City, ALTON Chairman added, noting that such critical issues are affecting the quality of services around FCT and Abuja.
“The problem is created by the governing authority in the FCT. Telecommunications services drive on the terrestrial infrastructure.
“We hereby call on the Federal Executive Council to prevail on the FCDA in granting approval/permit to our members to deploy infrastructure.
“ALTON and its members will no longer tolerate discriminatory charges against the sector. The industry is planning to begin a study on varying tariffs to some of the unfriendly telecommunications States in order to accommodate their demand,” he said.
ALTON further expressed concerns about the rising cost of diesel and its implications on the general high cost of business.
Adebayo said, “We are concerned that unless there is an intervention to save this sector, operators will have no choice but to begin a process of price review.
“The state of security in our country is of concern, while we commend all our security agencies for the work they do to keep us all safe, the impact of the general state of security in the country is that we are not able to provide 24/7 support in certain areas as it is unsafe to send out service personnel to some parts of the country and to other at certain times of the day.”
While speaking on the federal government directives on baring of unlinked customers’ lines over their failure to link their SIM cards with the National Identity Number (NIN), the ALTON boss said there has been a surge in the number of persons trying to link their SIM cards with NIN.
“There has been a lot of pressure at various experience centers, there has also been a lot of pressure on the systems,” he explained.
“There have been a lot of concerns expressed by the members of the public to our various contact centers; so it appears the heat is coming to all of us at this time.
“Unfortunately, we have been on this for fourteen months, many people didn’t respond to the call to link their SIM to their NIN and so we are where we are. Certainly, the last 24 hours, there has been enormous pressure on the various experience centers.”
