Beginning Friday, January 10, 2025, Nigerians can pay extra for voice calls, SMS, web knowledge plans, and different telecom companies. The Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) will announce the tariff hike after over a decade of stress from telecom operators, who’ve argued that rising inflation and the devaluation of the naira have made present charges unsustainable. Two individuals conversant in the matter mentioned the hike might be introduced on Friday following months of negotiations between telcos and the regulators.
The long-awaited value enhance was confirmed by Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Financial system, throughout a stakeholders’ assembly on Wednesday. Whereas he acknowledged the necessity for tariff changes, he additionally reassured the general public that the hike wouldn’t attain the 100% enhance some telecom operators had beforehand sought. Working prices for telecom corporations, Tijani defined, have surged by greater than 300% over the previous 18 to 24 months.
“It is not going to be by 100%,” Tijani mentioned. “The NCC will quickly give you a transparent directive on how we’ll go about it,” Tijani mentioned.
Telecom corporations have been pushing for larger tariffs since not less than Could 2022, once they proposed a 40% enhance. If adopted, this is able to increase the price of a telephone name from ₦11 per minute to ₦15.40, SMS costs from ₦4 to ₦5.60, and the value of a 1GB knowledge bundle from ₦1,000 to ₦1,400.
Operators have argued that inflation and naira devaluation have made it more and more troublesome to take care of service ranges. Nonetheless, some operators are advocating for a gradual enhance, recognizing the monetary burden such value hikes may place on shoppers.
“We perceive the necessity for a phased method,” mentioned Dinesh Balsingh, CEO of Airtel Nigeria, in an unique Op-ed to TechCabal. “Whereas the tariff changes are obligatory, we’re dedicated to supporting our clients by means of gradual modifications. This may permit us to reinvest in infrastructure, broaden protection, and improve the general service expertise. Our purpose is to make sure that Nigeria stays aggressive within the international digital financial system.”
Whereas the tariff enhance is designed to assist operators preserve tempo with rising prices, the federal government can be taking steps to make sure that telecom infrastructure funding just isn’t left totally to personal corporations. The federal authorities’s formidable plan to deploy a 90,000km fibre optic community throughout the nation is predicted to start in Q2 2025, aiming to broaden broadband entry to all 774 native governments.
For Minister Tijani, the twin concentrate on tariff will increase and government-led infrastructure funding is important to making sure that each one Nigerians have long-term entry to dependable, high-quality telecom companies.
“We can’t go away infrastructure improvement solely to the non-public sector,” Tijani said. “The federal government’s fibre optic venture will be sure that we lay the inspiration for higher, extra inexpensive companies throughout the nation.”
For Tijani, the telecom tariff enhance is being made to make sure individuals have entry to high quality service. Nonetheless, the federal government will now not go away infrastructure investments solely within the palms of the non-public sector. The 90,000km fibre cable venture deliberate by the federal authorities to be deployed throughout the 774 native governments within the nation is predicted to kick off within the second quarter of 2025.