Owing to high cost of
infrastructure maintenance,
telecommunications service
operators in the country may
soon slam subscribers with a
new year tariff review. However, this tariff, which
could be referred to as
‘staggering’ would apply mostly
in some crisis-prone states,
especially in the northern part
of the country. Chairman, Association of
Licensed Telecoms Operators of
Nigeria, ALTON, Mr. Gbenga
Adebayo, who disclosed this
recently at an event in Lagos
said this may be the way to surmount some of the
challenges mitigating against
telecoms firms, which on a
daily basis are affecting the
quality of service delivery. He explained that the North
East Zone of the country as well
as state where multiple
taxation, multiple regulations,
and unwholesome practices
abound, will have higher tariffs than states where their tariffs
are lower. States like Lagos,
Kwara, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom
will pay less because of their
friendly telecoms policy. The ALTON chairman, appealed
to other state governments to
emulate Lagos, which has
realised that telecoms industry
is a socio-economic
infrastructure rather than a source of revenue generation,
saying, “Lagos state has
reduced the Right of Way
charges from N6,000 to N500
per square metre of road. This
will enable us build a digital Lagos and make the state be
ahead of other states.” While also acknowledging the
challenges being faced the
telecoms operators, Chief
Executive Officer, Telecoms
Answers Associate, Mr. Titi
Omo-Ettu, made a number of recommendations towards
addressing some of the
challenges in the industry. According to Omo-Ettu, a total
planning concept, which
asserts that it is viable to
provide service for all citizens,
is best for Nigerians
circumstance is recommended, noting, that a broadband plan
that determines the future
should be sustained. “There is bound to be severe
challenges to regulation and all
associated issues must be
pursued,” he said. Omo-Ettu also urged the
Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) to institute a
technical study to examine the
problems of the networks,
publish the findings of the study and thereafter apply
focused solution. “A service contract that exists
between a service provider and
a consumer should be made
more enforceable rather than
the regulator stopping at
fighting the quality of service war only from its own
observatory and on behalf of
consumers. What should
matter to the consumer is
Quality of Experience while the
Quality of Service is left for the Regulator and the Operators to
use in their relationship,” he
stated.
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