The PUNCH learnt on Monday.
Although the telecoms companies declined to speak on the matter, top
management workers across the networks confirmed the story to our
correspondent, saying that the directive was from the Nigerian
Communications Commission.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a
senior management employee of Etisalat Nigeria said, “The NCC issued
the directive late last week on the orders of the Federal Government. We
have not announced it yet because most of the major telcos have been
meeting the NCC on how to reverse this policy, because it will be too
harsh for Nigerians.
“However, we further gathered that the
Federal Government took the decision having discovered that data rates
are very low-priced in Nigeria, compared to other countries, including
nearby African countries.
“The government might have also taken
the decision given that Nigerian subscribers have been kicking against
the proposed nine per cent Communication Tax, whose bill is currently in
the National Assembly.”
Pleading not to be mentioned, an
employee of MTN said, “What this means is that MTN, Airtel, Etisalat And
Globacom will increase their data rates as from December 1, 2016. A
data plan of N1,000 for 1.5 Gigabytes will now be increased to N3,000 at
N1,000 per 500 Megabytes.”
In text messages sent out to its
subscribers, MTN, Africa’s mobile telecommunications giant, confirmed
that it had agreed to implement the directive of the NCC.
The MTN text read, “Dear customer,
please be informed that from 1st of December, some MTN data tariffs will
be increased to reflect the new rates set by the NCC for operators.
Thank you.”
The PUNCH could not obtain an official response from the NCC at of the time of filing this report.
However, a representative of the
commission said that the telecoms regulator was unaware of such plans by
the operators, even as she said her bosses had claimed ignorance of the
circulated message.
“We are unaware of it. I just asked my
bosses; they are unaware. We will forward your query to MTN for
appropriate attention,” she said over the telephone.
However, in a letter by the NCC to the
operators sighted by our correspondent, the commission stated, “This
rate will subsist pending the finalisation of the study on the
determination of cost-based pricing for retail broadband and data
services in Nigeria.
“In order to provide a level playing
field for all operators in the industry, small operators and new
entrants to acquire market share and operate profitably, small operators
and new entrants are hereby exempted from the price floor for data
services.”
It added, “For the avoidance of doubt a
small operator is one that has less than 7.5 per cent market share and a
new entrant is an operator that has operated less than three years in
the market.
“All operators are to ensure that subscribers are not automatically migrated to pay-as-you-go platform.
“Also, note that effective date for the interim price floor is December 1, 2016.”
Reacting to the development, the
President, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, Mr.
Adeolu Ogunbanjo, said that the NCC representative was being economical
with the truth.
He said that for MTN to have sent out
millions of text messages to its subscribers “clearly shows that the NCC
indeed issued the directive.”
Read more at http://punchng.com/gsm-subscribers-pay-data-dec-1/
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