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 yesterday November
5th.
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 with DailyTrust, 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
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