Philip Nyam 
The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani and the Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC) to suspend the impending hike in telecommunications tariffs until their services are improved.
The advice was consequent upon the adoption of a motion sponsored by Oforji Oboku (PDP, Bayelsa).
Presenting the motion, Oboku noted that speaking after a stakeholders’ meeting with Mobile Network Operators in Abuja on Wednesday, 8th of January, 2025, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed that telecommunication tariffs will soon increase.
He said according to the minister, consultations were ongoing as there have been agitations from some of these companies to increase tariffs to as high as 100 percent.
“He however said it will not be a 100 per cent increase and that the Nigerian Communications Commission would approve the new tariffs and announce them in due course”, the lawmaker stated.
Oboku said the argument of the telecommunications companies for the hike includes, the cost of investment, better networks, and increasing demand for digital services across sectors such as education, banking and healthcare amongst others.
“Aware that the telecommunications companies have been advocating for the hike for the last eleven years, according to the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) they argued that the telcos need cost-reflective tariffs in the face of adverse economic reality like record inflation of 34.6 per cent in November 2024 and losses resulting from foreign exchange fluctuations.
“Worried that the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers has rejected the proposed increase in tariffs, describing it as insensitive and a further burden on consumers already grappling with economic hardship, and poor network service delivery”.
According to him, “It is imperative that the telecommunications companies improve on their service delivery (poor network), which Nigerians have been yearning for in years, before embarking on the increase in their tariffs.
“Also worried that the far-reaching effects of these price hikes will deepen financial struggles for the average Nigerian, threaten the country’s vision of leveraging technology to drive economic revival, exacerbate poverty and widen existing inequalities, hitting lower-income families the hardest.
“Affordable connectivity is a must for progress in critical sectors like digital banking, education, healthcare, agriculture and e-governance. Informal sector workers who depend on affordable mobile data to access gig work opportunities may find it harder to stay connected.
“Saddened that those small businesses, which rely heavily on affordable telecommunication for operations, marketing, and customer engagement, will face additional financial burden.
“Imagine a scenario where a 10 per cent increase is approved. It is estimated that a 10 per cent increase in telecommunications costs would reduce small business profitability up to 7 per cent, potentially leading to closure of businesses”.
The motion was unanimously adopted while the committee on telecommunication was mandated to ensure compliance.
