FG Approves Telecoms Companies New Tariff Hike, But..

The Federal Government has given its backing to new tariff hike proposals by telecoms companies.

This was announced yesterday by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani.

The minister who stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting with mobile network operators, and other stakeholders in Abuja yesterday, said consultations and engagements were ongoing to arrive at an acceptable rate.

According to him, Nigerians should be rest assured that the new tariff hike would not be the 100 per cent as telecoms operators had been proposing.

“You have seen over the past weeks that there has been agitation from some of these companies to increase tariff. They are requesting for 100 per cent tariff increase.

“But it will not be by 100 per cent. We are still looking at that study and NCC will come up with a clear directive on how we will go about it.

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“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.

“We need to ensure that as a sector, we get our acts together, ensure that from the regulation side, we put the right regulations in place that can ensure the growth of this sector.”

“We will not want this conversation to just be about tariff increase. I think what the world is talking about today is meaningful connectivity.

“You want to have access to very good 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 added, in reference that the federal government would also want to see the telecoms companies give service for money.

Underscoring the minister’s assertion that the telecoms companies should not expect 100 per cent tarric hike, the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC Dr Aminu Maida, 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 100 per cent tariff increase.

“I know that Nigerians are agitated to hear the exact percentage approved. There is still some stakeholder engagements that we are going through, but you will hear from us within a week or two,” he said.