THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has failed to rule out the possibility of increase in tariff, as requested by the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
On Wednesday, telecommunications companies under the umbrella of ALTON had requested 40% increase in tariff for calls, data and SMS, stating the 2020 economic downturn and the ongoing Russian and Ukrainian war has negatively impacted their operation.
The tariff increase would result to the call price floor to rise to N8.95 from N6.4, while the cost of SMS would hit N5.61 up from N4 per text, however, the telecoms industry regulator hasn’t approved the changes.
In a statement released yesterday, by NCC‘s public affairs lead, Ikechukwu Adinde, the regulator stated that before such figure could be implemented, the commission would carry out market analysis to determine the market realities.
It was gathered that the NCC would also have to give approval before the telecommunications company can implement the tariff, but the market study hasn’t been done.
NCC didn’t, however rule out the possibility of the implementation, stating that, “there could be justifiable reasons for MNOs’ demand for tariff increase” part of the statement reads.
Despite its admittance, the regulator insisted that, MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile and other network providers are not allowed to increase tariff “either individually or collectively without recourse to NCC, following the outcome of a cost study. This is not the case for now.”
NCC explained that the current tariff regime offered by the telcos “is a product of NCC’s determination both for voice and SMS in the past.”
