The outcry by Nigerians yesterday
compelled the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to suspend the
planned increase in telecom data tariff.
The directive issued by the NCC to telecom operators would have taken effect today.
Before yesterday’s announcement stopping the planned hike, the Senate called for a halt.
It summoned Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu and
NCC Executive Vice Chairman Umar Garba Danbatta.
A statement by NCC’s Director, Public
Affairs Director Tony Ojobo said the decision was taken after due
consultation with industry stakeholders and the general complaints by
consumers across the country.
Ojobo said that the commission had
weighed all of these and consequently asked all operators to maintain
the status quo until the conclusion of study to determine retail prices
for broadband and data services in Nigeria.
He said that the regulatory body wrote
to the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) on Nov. 1, on the determination
of an interim price floor for data services after the stakeholder’s
consultative meeting of Oct. 19.
According to him, the decision to have a
price floor is primarily to promote a level playing field for all
operators in the industry, encourage small operators and new entrants.
“The price floor in 2014 was N3.11k/MB
but was removed in 2015. The price floor that was supposed to flag off
on December 1, 2016, was N0.90k/MB.
“In taking that decision, the smaller operators were exempted from the new price regime by virtue of their small market share.
“The decision on the price floor was
taken in order to protect the consumers who are at the receiving end and
save the smaller operators from predatory services that are likely to
suffocate them and push them into extinction.
“The price floor is not an increase in
price but a regulatory safeguard put in place by the telecommunications
regulator to check anti-competitive practices by dominant operators.
“This statement clarifies the insinuation in some quarters that the regulator has fixed prices for data services.
“This is not true because the NCC does
not fix prices but provides regulatory guidelines to protect the
consumers, deepen investments and safeguard the industry from imminent
collapse,” he said.
The director said that before the new
suspended price floor of N0.90k/MB, the industry average for dominant
operators including MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, EMTS Limited
(Etisalat) and Airtel Nigeria Limited was N0.53k/MB.
He added that Etisalat offered N0.94k/MB, Airtel N0.52k/MB, MTN N0.45k/MB and Globacom N0.21k/MB.
The smaller operators/new entrants
charge the following: Smile Communications N0.84k/MB, Spectranet
N0.58k/MB and NATCOM (NTEL) N0.72k/MB.
Ojobo said that the NCC as a responsive
agency of government took into consideration the feelings of the
consumers and decided to suspend the new price floor
The Senate asked its Committee on Communications to begin immediate comprehensive investigation into the matter.
The Committee was given one week to report back to the Senate in plenary.
The resolutions followed a motion by
Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, (Kebbi South) in which
he condemned the planned hike in data tariffs.
Na’Allah said that there was no doubt the hike would further impoverish Nigerians.
Vice Chairman of the Committee on
Communications, Senator Solomon Adeola (Lagos West), described the
policy as not only “unholy” but also “unfriendly”.
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