Telecommunications operators in Nigeria have described the directive issued
by the Federal Government for the reduction in the cost of data in five days as
“unrealistic and insensitive”.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami gave the
directive during a courtesy visit by the management NCC led by its Board
Chairman Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, to his office.
Reacting to the directive, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed
Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Gbenga Adebayo, said that the
Federal Government’s directive was “dictatorial and could scare away investors
from the country.”
Speaking in an interview, Adebayo said “I don’t know how the government is
going to achieve that (data reduction) in five days. Have they put into
consideration the high cost of operating our businesses and the very harsh
operating environment we are in? Why are they trying to muzzle the NCC and stampede
it into doing what is unrealistic? Do they know that operators don’t just sit
down and fix tariffs.
They, with NCC, rely on so many things before coming up with tariffs. We do
not know under what circumstances the directive was given, and to be honest
with you, we don’t know how that is going to be achieved. We have said it
several times that when policies interfere with commercial matters, the
industry will be jeopardised. Government needs to be careful not to whittle
down the powers of the regulator.
To arrive at prices NCC normally conducts survey and research, and after
all that, it will benchmark the country’s tariffs based on what is obtained in
other jurisdictions,” he said