Nigeria regulator directs telcos to reverse ‘unilateral’ tariff hikes

Nigeria’s telecoms regulator has asked phone operators to suspend voice and data tariff hikes they introduced a month ago.

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, said the operators had carried out “unilateral implementation of the recently approved 10% upward tariff adjustments” for some services on their networks. A 12 October 2022 letter directed the companies to reverse the upward tariff adjustment, it said.

“The consideration for 10% approval for tariff adjustments for different voice and data packages was in line with the mandates of the Commission as provided by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and other extant Regulations and Guidelines, as this was within the provisions of existing price floor and price cap as determined for the industry. The decision was also taken after a critical and realistic review and analysis of the operational environment and the current business climate in Nigeria, as it affects all sectors of the economy,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday signed by Reuben Muoka, its director for public affairs.

Telecommunications companies in Nigeria raised the rates of data services in September, months after suspending an increase following public complaints. Many users only became aware of the latest raise in October as there were no formal announcements by the companies, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

The prices rose 10 per cent, with an MTN subscription of 2.5 gigabytes moving from N500 to N550, while Airtel 40GB subscription increased from N5000 to N5500.

Users criticised the networks for implementing new rates without notifying them. An Airtel subscriber, John Nonso, told PREMIUM TIMES that his subscription of 40GB of N5000 had increased to N5500 and he received no notification.

TOO EXPENSIVE?

Nigeria has some of the most expensive internet rates in the world, an analysis by Surfshark Press, a U.S.-based solution provider, showed in August 2020.

Persisting high inflation in Nigeria has seen businesses push up their prices lately. Inflation reached 20.8 per cent in September, more than 20.52 per cent recorded in the previous month.

In May, the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), suggested a 40 per cent increase in call and SMS rates to the NCC. The operators said the cost for calls will increase from N6.4 to N8.95 while the price cap for SMS will increase from N4 to N5.61. The regulator NCC blocked the move.

The companies only confirmed their new rates after customers raised concerns online. On October 5, MTN wrote on Twitter to a user, “Y’ello thank you for contacting MTN! The prices of some of our data bundles have been reviewed upward. Kindly visit Mtn. ng/personal/data/… to learn more about the current prices of the MTN data bundles.”

Airtel responded to a subscriber also on October 9: “Hello @ThekidDnk, please be informed that our bundles on the network have been modified. Kindly note that the N5000 data bundle is now N5500, thank you”.

The spokespersons for the companies did not respond to requests for comments.

IT IS REVERSED

The NCC said although the tariff adjustment was proposed and provisionally approved by its management, its board did not eventually approve it.

“As a result, it is reversed,” it said. “The Honourable Minister, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has maintained that his priority is to protect the citizens and ensure justice to all stakeholders involved. As such, anything that will bring more hardship at this critical time will not be accepted. This was also why he obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the suspension of the proposed 5% excise duty, in order to maintain a conducive enabling environment for the telecom operators. Much as there is an increase in the cost of production, the provision of telecom services is still very profitable and it is necessary that the subscribers are not subjected to a hike in charges.”