The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), has indicated that telecoms tariff hike is imminent given the current economic realities in Nigeria.
ALTON chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, gave the indication in Lagos, during a stakeholders’ meeting with the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida.
Adebayo said that price review should be considered in line with the rising operating cost, noting that operators are burdened by 52 taxes across the country under President Bola Tinubu. According to him, “Our current pricing regime is no longer sustainable. That is the fact, with the way things are going, I am not sure we can sustain this sector with the current pricing regime”.
He urged the NCC Chairman to intervene in the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debts owed them by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), which according to him, had now hit N200 billion, noted that the total debts must be paid.
He stressed that the association would not hesitate to block debtor banks from accessing the service.
