The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, has thrown his weight behind plans by telecommunications operators in Nigeria to increase their tariffs, saying it is the only way to sustain the businesses.
Speaking during a Channels TV interview program over the weekend, Rewane justified price increment for telecoms services, citing several factors. According to him, the last time there was a telecom price review was in 2013, and the prices of every other service in Nigeria have gone up in multiple-folds since then.
Rewane said the current tariff regime is inhibiting the operators’ capacity to invest more in infrastructure, hence, the quality of their services has been deteriorating in recent times. He added that poor telecom services, would not only affect the telecom subscribers but the economy at large.
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Last telecom tariff review
Emphasizing the need for the tariff increase, Rewani said:
- “The last time there was a tariff review for the telecom sector was 11 years ago, in 2013. At that time, we had a president by the name of Goodluck Jonathan. Ever since then, there’s been President Buhari and now President Tinubu, and the price of a bag of cement at that time was 1,800. Today that bag of cement is 7,500, it had gone higher by 4,066%.
- “A bag of rice at that time was N12,000 and now it’s up to N77,000. That is a 525% increase. The price of diesel was N196 and it went all the way to N1,900, that’s up to 1,000% and now it’s down to N1,400, which is an increase of 614%.
- “The Naira was exchanged at N157 to a dollar, today, it’s N1,400 in the parallel market, a depreciation of 763%. So, if you check cumulative inflation from 2013 to now, it is 387%. The minimum wage then was N18,000, today, the labour union is asking for N615,000.”
Telecom as critical infrastructure
According to Rewane, while the telecom sector officially contributes 10% to the GDP, it is a critical form of social infrastructure, hence, people must be ready to pay the right price to enjoy the services. He added that in other countries where the right prices are being paid, they get better quality service compared to what Nigerians are getting currently
- “Just like petrol and electricity, if you go across neighboring countries where their income and their GDP is lower than ours how come there are no queues in Benin Republic and no breakdown in power supply even in Togo?
- “How come the telecom system works efficiently? if you underinvest in any sector, if you don’t manage that sector efficiently you will get low returns and inefficient outcomes so that is what it is you can’t eat your cake and have it. You have to pay to get quality service,” he said.
Telcos says price increment overdue
Last month, the telecom operators put out a statement drawing the attention of the telecom regulator and the subscribers to the need to increase tariffs.
In a joint statement by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the operators said the telecom industry is the only industry that has not reviewed its prices despite the rising inflation in the country and other economic realities that warrant increment.
They blamed this on the regulatory restraints that have been preventing them from pricing appropriately.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) regulates prices in the telecom industry and telecom operators are not allowed to implement any price change without the regulator’s approval. The regulator has said a cost-based study is being conducted to determine if it would approve price increments for the operators.
