‘Operators engaging NCC for tariff hike’

Telecom operators yesterday said it is working with the regulator of the industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),  to raise the prices of its services to its consumers.

The operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said the cost of operation determines the prices of the finished products, adding that the industry will not be self-sustaining if it continues to incur more cost of production and sell goods at prices that are less commensurate with the costs.

Reacting to the proposed 40 per cent hike in electricity tariff by the DisCos, which is coming on the heels of the implementation of 7.5 per cent on diesel and removal of petrol subsidy, ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, in a telephone interview, said the policy changes so far have impacted on the telecom sector, adding that the group was talking with the NCC to charge the appropriate prices for the final products.

He said: “All these changes have had impacts on our industry. You know as an industry, these are parameters that affect the cost of the services we offer, I mean our production cost and when production costs go up, end user prices too go up.

“So, if its gets to that stage, naturally we will also respond to the trend of that issue expectedly because for the industry to be sustaining, prices have to reflect the cost of production.”

According to him, the cost of transporting diesel to base transceiver stations (BTS) too has gone up, marking up increased cost of operation.

“For the sustainability of the industry, the tariff we charge the consumers will reflect the cost of production, in this case the cost of energy, cost of fuel, cost of diesel, cost of transport. So, expectedly, prices are meant to go up.”

“What we are doing at the moment is that we are working with the regulator to follow the guideline on tariff review,” he said.