There has been issues concerning improved connectivity. It was announced by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, yesterday.
In an interview last year, Tijani hinted that a report is coming early this year. Dr Bosun announced that there would be an increase to the tariff. He ruled out 100 percent increase contrary to information earlier rumored.
Tijani spoke about all of this at stakeholders meeting with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Abuja. Tijani mentioned that Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will soon approve amd announce it.
“You have seen over the past weeks that there has been agitation from some of these companies to increase tariffs. They are requesting for a 100 per cent tariff increase.
“But it will not be by 100 per cent; the NCC will soon come up with a clear directive on how we will go about it.
“We want to strike the balance as a government, to protect our people, but also protect and ensure that these companies can continue to invest significantly,” he said.
“We will not want this conversation to just be about tariff increase. What the world is talking about today is meaningful connectivity, people want to have access to quality service.
“A part of it that the consumers may not be aware of is the investment that needs to go into the infrastructure that is used to deliver these services,” he said.
“We have looked at all of these factors, and that is why, like the minister said, it is not likely that we are going to approve a 100 per cent tariff increase.
“I know that Nigerians are agitated to hear the exact percentage approved. There are still some stakeholder engagements that we are going through, but you will hear from us within a week or two,” he said.
We are moving away from the regime where you will have a main rate, then you will now have a bonus which is at a different rate.
“It makes it often complicated and difficult for Nigerians to actually understand what they are being charged for. There is this agitation that the MNOs are stealing our data,” he said
The Minister also made it known that the Federal Government does not want to leave infrastructure development to private sector rather they want to be involved.
Under the new tariffs regime, a voice call will rise from N11.00 to N15.40 per minute, short message services will jump from N4.00 to N5.60 and
“One GB data bundle will move from N1,000 to N1,400. This represents additional digital costs consumers will have to square up with at the beginning of a new year among other harsh economic realities of Nigeria of today. This, undoubtedly, is against Public Interest contrary to the false narrative of NCC that described the recent adjustments as pro public interest.
This Association sees the increment as an official policy to price Telecoms Services out of the reach of generality of the Citizens of this country,” it stated.
Telecom services are already becoming less affordable for the average Nigerian. If this tariff increase goes through, we risk seeing many people completely priced out of the market,” it said
