MTN, GLO, Others seek NCC approval for tariff increase

Nigeria’s telecommunications operators, MTN Nigeria, Globacom, and others, have asked the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to approve an increase in their tariff.

On Thursday, the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria issued a proposal requesting the federal government to approve its request.

The request came after the telcos recorded financial losses due to foreign exchange instability and rising energy operation costs. It also came 24 hours after Multichoice, a South African pay television company, raised its tariff.

In their statements, two bodies said, “Despite the adverse economic headwinds, the telecommunications industry remains the only industry yet to review its general service pricing framework upward in the last 11 years, primarily due to regulatory constraints.

“For a fully liberalised and deregulated sector, the current price control mechanism, which is not aligned with economic realities, threatens the industry’s sustainability and can erode investors’ confidence.”

The two associations called on the government to address the pricing challenges faced by network operators, particularly in balancing consumers’ affordability of its services without incurring much losses.

Meanwhile, the NCC said a cost-based study is being conducted to determine whether it would approve the request for price increments for the network operators.

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