Telecommunication companies,
(Telcos), under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, (ALTON), have asked the Federal Government to prioritise the supply of diesel.
Checks showed that the price of automotive gas oil, also known as diesel, has surpassed 700 per litre in some filling stations in Lagos.
In a phone interview with newsmen yesterday, ALTON chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, said the telecoms sector had been severely affected by the current hike in diesel prices and fuel scarcity. The challenges, he said, have caused incidences of diesel theft at telecoms facilities to increase.
Adebayo said, “The cost of operations has gone up. As you are very aware, part of the things we had complained about over the years is the lack of availability of public power supply at our sites across the country. Now, those sites are powered by generators, which run on diesel”.
“The challenges we have had, apart from the fact that diesel has become very expensive, is that it has also become unavailable in places. And the logistics of getting it to those places is also a problem. Because of the high cost, cases of theft of diesel on site have also increased. Even the trucks that will take the diesel to the site are also powered by diesel. These are the problems”, he further lamented.
According to Adebayo, telecom operators have agreed to turn to the government for intervention. “We will be seeking to prioritise the availability of supply of diesel from NNPC”, he said.
“We should be given first priority because if we are not able to power the sites, you know what will happen. Some people can’t survive. If we can’t power telecommunications sites, it will be a big problem”, he emphasised.
