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Tag: telcos

  • Telcos: data rollover’ll affect our revenue

    The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has said the new directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on data rollover will negatively impact the revenues of carriers.

    Its President, Olusola Teniola, yesterday lamented that the directive would ensure full utilisation of data purchased by telecoms consumers.

    The NCC had directed the operators to roll over unused data for seven days.

    Teniola said the consumers’ protection efforts of the regulator would, however, would hurt the bottom line of service providers.

    “Currently, the annual operating levy imposed on our members is 2.5 per cent, and it is based on our net revenues.

    “This directive may have a significant impact on the revenue because within those seven days consumers are not being charged for a data plan, it is a loss of revenue for our members,” he said. On multiple taxations, Teniola said the association is in talks with the government for harmonisation of the Right of Way (RoW).

    Teniola lamented that RoW reamined one of the major elements that would enable ATCON members to invest in broadband infrastructure.

    “Our association is hopeful that we will have a decision made by the government as to the best way forward in terms of harmonisation of RoW.

    “On the remaining 37 taxes, we are really seeking further dialogues with the ministry of finance and the president’s office to ensure that our industry is not being targeted for taxes that are duplicated not only by the federal but state and local governments.

    “Taxes should not only be applied fairly but also have to be seen to be able to intensify further investment critical for investments that government and the country require,” he said.

    He said major stakeholders are of the opinion that 30 per cent broadband penetration is not achievable in 2018 because licenses for infrastructure providers (Infracos) were not issued on time.

    “They were only concluded by the first quarter of this year and have just been issued to Infracos.

    “Secondly, we have a situation where the multiple forex mechanisms in place do not create certainty in the minds of investors.

    “That means it is much more expensive to import necessary equipment to actually create the demand needed to achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration,” Teniola told NAN.

     

  • Taxes, other charges killing us, say telcos

    Telecoms operators have lamented the crippling effect of multiple taxation, arbitrary charges and other challenges besetting the industry.

    The operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ATCO), also lamented that the sector was left out in this year’s Appropriation Bill, which was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Its President, Olusola Teniola, said lamented that the budget demonstrates the incapability of the government to further fund and spend on the much-needed infrastructure projects, such as power and information communication technology (ICT) and other essential items without reducing the recurrent expenditure to a level that reflects greater efficiencies in the way governance is run in the country. It also reflects a reality that the government’s diversification programme is slowing down or in doubt.

    “So this budget will only indirectly impact the telecoms sector, when the government removes the 38 different taxes and levies being applied to the sector to fund government spending. The government also needs to address the leakages in the 2018 budget, as the current taxes contributed by the telecoms sector alone per year is more than N450 billion and this is not reflected properly in their revenue line, highlighting  a problem with accountability within government and shortchanging the effort that the industry plays in the nation’s economic development.

    “The fact that many projects were removed and replaced with National Assembly projects demonstrates a problem in what is going to be implemented in 2018 and early 2019 to support this diversification,” Teniola said in electronic interview.

    He said Buhari  should address his concerns with the legislature and other stakeholders in the polity to ensure that any gaps that exist are closed in a manner that benefits the citizens. The fact that differences exist is not a problem, he said, adding the area the that needed to be addressed is transparency and relevance of projects that both sides of the government seek as priority within the remaining term of the administration.

    He said collaboration is not only key between the executive arm of government, but also with legislature, the private sector  and civic society in ensuring that this budget delivers the dividends to each citizen and more importantly that the private sector has the much needed funds that government seeks to deliver on its promises.

    However, he said this could only be harnessed when the government provides an enabling environment and a level of accountability as to how taxes are collected and spent to provide the basics to its citizens.

    The recurring expenditure is one line item that speaks to that, it needs to be reduced and not increased going forward.

  • CPC, NATCOM proposed tariff hike by telcos

    The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the National Association of Telecoms Consumers of Nigeria (NATCOM) yesterday warned telecoms service providers in the country against hiking the tariff of telecoms services.

    They spoke against the backdrop of plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to begin the implementation of one of the provisions of Cybercrime Act 2015 which made provision for the collection of 00.05 per cent levy on all electronic transactions to be deposited into a National Cyber Security Fund account.

    The Director-General, CPC, Babatunde Irukera, who spoke on the sideline of the first Annual National Media Workshop organised by Electronic Payment Providers Association (EPPAN) in Lagos, said argued that it will amount to unfair practice if the operators go ahead to put the cost of the service consumers did not enjoy on them by way of its threat to increase enterprise and retail services in the sector.

    The workshop had: Promoting Digital Literacy to Enhance Public Confidence and Financial Inclusion as its theme.

    “What consumer will accept is fair and transparent reason that directly accepts the service they enjoyed.  We are not comfortable with the operators to transfer the cost of their business that does not associate with the service they provide that we will not accept.

    “So I think the telcos should seek redress on the CBN’s directive to the banks on the collection of 0.005 per cent levy on all electronic transactions into a National Cyber Security Fund account and not make subscribers to pay the running cost of their business,” he said.

    Also speaking, NATCOM President, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, also warned the telcos against any tariff increase, lamenting that it would add to the burden of the already over-burdened subscribers in the e-payment sector if implemented.

    He said:  “The 00.05per cent e-transaction implementation will be a direct burden on the already laden subscribers in the telecoms sector.

    “Please, operators should work with the industry regulator (Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and ensure that government is not adding more responsibility that will in-turn be transferred on subscribers. I am so sure the Cyber Crime bill did not say telecommunication subscribers should be ripped off.”

     

     

  • TELCOS terrorism

    Have you ever been on the highway driving home after a dog’s day at work and your phone rings? You peek at it. It’s an unknown number and you ignore it. It rings off and rings again. You take another look; again an unknown number but a rather peculiar one. It’s a ‘mature’ number as a friend of Hardball would term it: In the sense that it belongs to the first or second generation series of numbers.

    And it keeps ringing relentlessly as if you are about to miss a major job if you ignored it. You reach out and manage to pick it and put it on speaker; disregarding the traffic code against fiddling with the phone while driving. And what do you get? A recording – someone desperately trying to sell you something.

    Gosh! Your brains literally explodes in ire and you reach out quickly to shut down the irritant; you miss with the first jab and the second … your car swerves a little. You ignore the phone; reclaim your wheels as the promo continues to rant searingly running its full course. Now you are probably boiling over and cursing furiously under your breath. You feel so thoroughly ravaged and your blood pressure may have gone up one notch.

    There are as many scenarios as there are GSM phone users in Nigeria. The telecommunications companies have grown from feeding frenzy on us their helpless game to the realms of terrorism. When this ravenously bad habit started about four years ago, it was enough to stay with those text-and-win promos.

    You must remember that crazy era when some of the telcos offered SUVs and millions of naira to be won if you recharged. That epoch ended when one of the firms lost its mind and offered us an aeroplane. RECHARGE-AND-WIN-AN-AEROPLANE was the promo that ‘killed’ all promos. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) eventually got shame-faced enough to snap from its slumber and tried to moderate the madness.

    No sleek-fingered telco has offered us a Concorde jet ever since but they have not stopped pecking at us like vultures upon a dying game. Hardball chose to keep his treasure of short messages from his service providers and in just one month of August, he got no fewer than 100 messages from each of the three lines he uses. The barrage of messages is a curious admixture of picking my pockets and obtaining by all manner of unscrupulous guises.

    Here are a few examples: Dateline August 11, 2016, time 20:33: Dear customer, you have successfully subscribed to MTNsports EPL and N50.00 deducted from your account. Your service will be renewed on 2016-08-18. To cancel, text stop EPL to 5836. Enjoy!

    One never remembered subscribing to the above and even if perchance I had been tricked into it as they are wont to do these days, I never received one word of information on the EPL game.

    But every week one gets the notification for renewal and deduction of N50.00. This is just one example. There are so many more from all the firms.

    If this is not criminality bordering on terrorism, then what is it?

  • NCC warns telcos against sharp practices

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned telcos against practices that inflict pains on their subscribers.

    The regulator wants carriers including MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile to desist from cheating the about 150 million active subscribers in the country through their services.

    Speaking during the 37th edition of Consumer Town Hall Meeting (CTM) in Epe, a Lagos suburb, at the weekend, Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau at the NCC, Mrs. Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, said the regulator will continue to provide a conducive regulatory environment to ensure that telcos do well. She added that the telcos too must reciprocate the gesture by playing their role in ensuring that subscribers get value for their money.

    She thanked the traditional leaders and their subjects for turning out in their large numbers to lodge their complaints about telecoms services rendered in their community.

    The forum had: Information and Education as a Catalyst for Consumer Protection as theme.

    Onwueguchulam, who promised that NCC would look into all the issues raised, appealed to service providers to stop every activities capable of eroding the confidence of telecoms subscribers.

    The director urged the operators to look into activities which amount to cheating of subscribers.

    According to her, NCC has developed series of initiatives that would empower the consumers and ensure that their rights are fully protected. She encouraged consumers to subscribe to the 622/2442 Don Not Disturb (DND) code, where they can stop unsolicited messages.

    Most of the participants at the meeting complained bitterly about the poor quality of service (QoS) in the area. They lament that development has become so embarrassing.

    The subscribers complaints ranged from data, airtime depletion, unauthorised auto renewal, call drops, unresponsive customer care, illegal deductions, poor QoS and others.

  • ‘Why Telcos, DisCcos must embrace credit bureaux services’

    Getting more people into the financial services net requires strategies, one of which is making credit accessible to people of all classes. Just as banks need information on borrowers, telecommunications companies also need subscribers’ credit data, especially for post-paid customers. That is where credit bureaux services come to play. CRC Credit Bureau Limited Managing Director/CEO ‘Tunde Popoola speaks with COLLINS NWEZE on the gains of embracing credit bureaux services and steps taken to ensure that other non-financial services providers key into the scheme.

    Nine years after credit bureaux operations started in Nigeria, what has been your experience with customers, borrowers and regulators?

    Credit bureaux were licensed in 2009. So, the industry will be 10 next year. My experience with customers has, on the whole, been very positive. We have been able to grow our customer base from being largely financial institutions to other sectors. We now have some insurance companies, telecommunication firms, real estate companies, leasing companies that have come onboard.

    At the very beginning we used to have many issues with the quality of data submitted by these institutions; but there has been an improvement, although there is still room for improvement. The adoption of standardised common data submission template has helped. Most Nigerian banks’ customers still do not know much about credit bureaux and how they are impacted by their existence. Some also do not know how to seek corrections to wrongs and disputed information submitted to the credit bureaux by creditors.

    Many do not know the rights conferred on them by the law on the limited permissible purposes for which their information could be used, and the protection of their data and robust provisions on how to address disputed information. A lot needs to be done in this area. Our experience with the regulators has been positive. The credit bureau industry is a highly regulated one. The CBN granted licences to three private credit bureaux to operate and without a licence no one can operate a credit bureau. From time to time, the CBN issues circulars that guide credit bureaux operations. Last year, the Credit Reporting Act, which lays down the legal framework for the operations of credit bureaux, was signed into law. The CBN continues to grant tremendous support to our industry so that the credit reporting culture would be fully adopted as a way of life.

    What are your priority areas as  chairman of the Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN)?

    The industry has come a long way since three credit bureaux were licensed in 2009. The operators have always worked closely, especially since CBAN was incorporated as an umbrella advocacy association in 2012. My tenure will try to deepen some of the achievements we have recorded. We have received significant support from the World Bank Group and the CBN.

    The support includes promoting the on-boarding of all categories of financial institutions under the supervision of the CBN as credit information suppliers and users; building the capacity of credit information suppliers and users; creating awareness about the services and products of credit bureaux to the public and providing the strategic input towards the enactment of the National Credit Reporting Act. We realised that there is still a lot to do in this regard. Awareness creation to other stakeholders is also key and we will do a lot more in this area. There will be media engagement and roadshows for business management organisations. We think a lot more needs to be done to sensitise the judiciary and the general public about the National Credit Reporting Act 2017.

    What of the financial sector and others?

    The financial sector has embraced credit reporting and they are benefitting from it. Other credit grantors in the economy such as the telecommunication companies, distribution companies (Discos), utility companies, insurance companies, cooperative societies, and retailers have not fully embraced credit reporting. We will do a lot of engagements in this area. We appeal to telcos and discos regulators and operators to see embrace credit reporting fully. These sectors and Nigerians will benefit immensely from a credit reporting system that is inclusive of these sectors and other utilities. I hold the view that the adoption by these strategic and critical sectors will deepen financial inclusion and further enhance access to credit even for the unbanked. Nigeria needs to play significant role in credit reporting in Africa.

    We started a head of many countries. We will make CBAN play a major role towards an association of credit bureaus in Africa, as some other continents such as Europe. This will enhance peer review, capacity building and promotion of credit reporting in African countries.

    The level of non-performing loans in the banking sector is extremely high, far above 15 per cent as against the five per cent regulatory threshold. How does this affect credit bureaux, given that the sector is expected to check bad borrowers?

    The credit bureaux do act as a check against bad borrowers. They are a repository of the credit history of individuals and firms and in this way banks can know the individuals and firms with a history of bad debts and refrain from lending to them. It is a testament to the efficacy of credit bureaux that the level of non-performing loans in Nigeria has reduced from 37.25 per cent in 2009 to 12.82 per cent in 2016. However, more can still be done. The current level of non-performing loans in the banking sector is very worrisome. The high level of NPL that we are currently seeing can be traced back to the challenges in the oil and gas sector. The oil companies are some of the biggest borrowers of banks and when the global oil crash occurred it affected their ability to repay back their loans. There isn’t a lot that the credit bureau can do in this case because it is not as if the oil companies had a history of bad debts that the credit bureau failed to report on, but going forward the lesson here for banks is not to concentrate their facility in one sector.

    What is your view on the CBN’s plan to institute new private asset management companies to buy up bad loans and how would you assess the impact of AMCON on the level of bad loans in its six years of existence?

    The CBN’s plan to institute new private asset management companies is a sound one. It is a move dictated by the current realities in the financial system with respect to the high incidence of non-performing loans. Besides, I believe that a private-sector owned bank will run much more efficiently just like any other private sector initiative.

    With regards to the impact of AMCON on the level of bad loans, I would say they have done well though there are certain challenges, which limit the level of achievements recorded so far by the corporation. Such challenges include the slow nature of our judicial system and the poor documentation surrounding the loans consigned to the corporation and backed-up assets. My submission is that if these bottlenecks are not dealt with, the private asset management companies may also experience difficulties in selling assets to third parties.

    What are the benefits in the credit bureau industry that would attract more Nigerians to obtain their credit scores?

    One major benefit of credit bureaux that should excite Nigerians and make them want to obtain their credit scores is that they help individuals to amass reputational collateral. Reputational collateral is built over time as an individual borrows and pays back on time without defaults. Reputational collateral can stand in place of physical collateral and help individuals get access to finance.

    Why are Nigerians reluctant to embrace your services, especially getting and keeping their credit scores?

    Nigerians are reluctant to use the services of credit bureaux because they are not aware of them and not necessarily because they don’t see the benefits that come with it.

    To this end, we have been organising various programmes to reach out to the populace through our umbrella body: Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN). I believe that concerted efforts to create awareness for the services of credit bureaux will see a rise in adoption. Nigerians and Nigerian companies should cultivate the habit of self-check. Good enough, the law enables individuals to obtain one free credit report in a year from the credit bureaux. The law also gives you the opportunity to guestion the credit report used to decline your loan request, if your loan request was turned down on account of negative information in your credit report. Besides, the credit bureaux have developed a number of products that individuals and firms can use to know their credit status at any time.

    Consumer lending, which is a critical sector expected to benefit from your operations, is still untapped several years after you came into business.

    There are many factors that affect consumer lending in Nigeria. One  is that banks have been traditionally wary of lending to consumers compared with lending to corporates because of the perceived risks involved. While the credit bureaux have been able to mitigate these risks by reducing the information asymmetry between banks and borrowers, this mindset still persists. But it is rapidly disappearing.

    Can we say operators have not measured up to expectations, and if that is the case, what are the factors stopping you from achieving set objectives?

    For instance, in January the total amount of loans to consumers stood at under N1 trillion, while that of corporates stood at about N15 trillion. But things are changing very fast. The amount of loans and the number of consumer loans and loans to SMEs have increased and keep on increasing in recent time. Most banks  have now developed consumer products and dedicated desks for SMEs. Many banks are changing their lending model to enable them upscale and lend in few minutes to consumers. Some are even now lending to individuals without bank accounts with them.

    In some banks today, you can access loans under 10 minutes if you latch on to their loan application. Things are rapidly changing, but it will take some time before we see the impact. The credit bureaux and the fintechs are the enablers of these new lending models to consumers and SMEs. It must be understood that the credit bureau merely exists as an enabler. We are an infrastructure that helps banks manage credit risks and promote access to finance for individuals. However, we do not directly influence a bank’s decision on whether or not to grant credit. That is still up to the bank and there is nothing that we can do if their model of lending favours corporates compared with consumers.

    On the other hand, we have the consumers themselves and their aversion to borrowing because of high interest rates and poor credit culture. So, no, I would not say that credit bureaux have not measured up to expectations when it comes to consumer lending, rather the prevailing credit culture has impeded consumer lending in Nigeria.

    Have you been able to explore opportunities in other financial institutions, small businesses and civil servants to bring borrowers into your coverage area?

    We have to an extent. Take CRC Credit Bureau, for instance, our operations have been able to cover all states in Nigeria and our data providers include other financial institutions. Civil servants can use our services to check their credit status and government and other employers can run credit checks on prospective employees using our services.

    What can you tell us about product development at CRC? Are there unique products that set you apart from what your competitors offer?

    CRC is constantly innovating and we have been recognised for this. We won the 2017 Nigeria Brand award for the most innovative and impactful credit information service provider in West Africa. We are very big on product development at CRC. Last year we launched CRC FICO score in partnership with Fair Isaac and Company. CRC FICO score is the only international credit score in Nigeria. CRC FICO score is a three-digit number that summarises the information in a credit information report and enables lenders and/or credit grantors make swift decisions on the credit worthiness of loan applicants and buyers of post-paid products.

    We have several other products that set us apart. They are mostly credit monitoring products such as CRC I-CON plus and CRC CONplus. These are credit overview notification products that enable individuals and firms to receive information about their credit status on a monthly basis through an annual subscription mechanism. CRC I-CON plus delivers an easy, convenient and cost effective solution that enables customers monitor their overall credit exposure through monthly e-mail notifications, which can be viewed on the go. CRC CON plus is the same as I-CON plus except that it is targeted at firms. We also have developed  credit monitor alert products that once you subscribe, you receive notification once there is a transaction that affects you from any of our data providers. These products can be purchased on our website: www.crccreditbureau.com. Some other initiatives are on the line and we will unveil our credit mobile application very soon.

    Also, our strength lies in our partnerships with international firms such as Dun and Bradstreet and FICO. What this means is that our products are of world-class standard.

    What is the biggest challenge facing the credit bureau industry at present?

    There are three major challenges facing the credit bureau industry at present. One is data submission by institutions. Apart from financial institutions that submit data on individuals and commercial entities on a regular basis, most other institutions in the non-financial sectors are yet to fully come on board. There is a need for telecommunication companies, utility companies, insurance companies and all other companies that transact on a pay-later basis to regularly submit data to the credit bureaux in order to enhance credit reporting in Nigeria. There is also a low level of awareness of our activities, especially by individuals and business entities.

     

     

  • More burdens for telcos

    Despite persistent hues and cries of telcos in Nigeria, there appears to be no end in sight to their woes. From double taxation to double regulation, willful vandalism of telecoms infrastructure, telcos lament that they now have ‘frivolous’ summons by lawmakers and their committees that so often insist on seeing their CEOs as additional burden to contend with, LUCAS AJANAKU writes.

    Since the liberalisation of the telecoms industry about two decades ago, the sector has proven to be resilient and even become another cash cow to support the dwindling and volatile earnings from the oil sector.

    Telecoms sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the sector contributed N1.54 trillion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2017.

    NCC’s Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta said the figure was derived from recently released National Bureau of Statistics (NBS’) report on the economy.

    Its Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mr. Sunday Dare, said  the country has seen between 2015, 2016, 2017, an almost 10 per cent contribution to GDP, lamenting that as the industry is continues to grapple with a myriad of challenges, the sector’s GDP contributions have dropped slightly. All these affect the taxable revenue that comes to government, impact on quality of service and employment is at risk, he added.

    The multiplicity of regulation, taxation and recently, incessant summons to CEOs of telecoms industry by no means constitute obstacles to the ease of doing business in the country. At the last count, there are no fewer than 30 charges and levies in the telecoms sector.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says any attack on doing business in the country is an attack on the economy and an attack on the future of Nigerians.

    “Anytime we create obstacles for doing business, we attack the Nigerian economy, we attack our prosperity as a nation, we also attack the future,” the VP said.

    Worried by the incessant summons to appear before the National Assembly and its committees, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ALTON) had by a resolution at its General Meeting of October 20, 2017, resolved that a firm of solicitors with good track record in handling high-profile constitutional law cases be instructed to institute an action in court seeking the court’s interpretation of the provisions of the constitution on the extent of the National Assembly’s oversight functions on telcos.

     

    Burden of legislative summons

    ALTON members have been inundated with incessant summons from different committees of the National Assembly served on their CEOs to appear before several National Assembly Committees, which negatively impact on ability to focus on their business operations. The insistence on attendance of CEOs at such session is without consideration of these CEOs reasonable schedule conflict or the fact that other senior management staff may be better versed and suited due to the nature of their job roles vis-a-vis the subject matter of investigation.

    Its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo lamented that for instance, the Ad-Hoc Committee set up by the House of Representatives to investigate the Health Implications of Telecommunications Towers in residential buildings, called for public hearings on April 10 and 11 last year, at which the industry was supposed to be represented by ALTON. The Committee insisted that each operator makes its own presentation. There were further hearings on April 25 and 23; May 8 and 23 of last year. However, at those Hearings the Committee insisted that it would only grant audience to the CEOs of the companies and no other representative, in spite of technical knowledge and seniority of such representatives.

    He lamented that some of the investigative duties of the different committees overlap and require similar information from the attendees. “For instance, members are summoned by both the standing Committee on Telecoms and its Ad-hoc Committee on Operational Activities of Telecoms Equipment and Service Providers both investigating loss of revenue to the Federal Government. The Committee on Telecoms is also investigating loss of jobs which the Committee on Labour also summons members in respect of. The Committee on Telecoms also served summons for investigation by its Adhoc Committee for Value Added Services (VAS) and Committee investigating locally manufactured skills.

    “Aside the duplication of effort by the Committees, the manner of invitation borders on harassment of our members as the invitations are sometimes scheduled on the same day leading to conflict or scheduled back to back for three to four days, which will necessitate member CEOs being away from their businesses for such long periods. Furthermore, some of the requested information border on information within the purview of specific government agencies which the National Assembly could easily request the agencies to provide, such information as evidence of tax remittances to government since inception of members operations, which could date as far back as 16 years; or confidential information which members should not be obliged to provide e.g. list of all employees and current remuneration package of these employees,” he said.

     

    Resort to litigation

    According to a document obtained at the weekend, ALTON is asking the court to determine the extent of the National Assembly’s oversight functions as it relates to private companies and particularly, telcos being private companies; extent of the its oversight functions with respect to private companies and particularly, telcos which are already subject to regulatory oversight by regulators; specific nature of information which the National Assembly can lawfully request from private companies including telcos, and whether it includes companies’ confidential information and information within the purview of government agencies; and specific nature of directives that can be made by the National Assembly pursuant to the outcome of their investigative activities.

    Ethers are declaration on the proprietary of the lawmakers to issue these summons and insist that our members be represented by their CEOs and not senior management representatives whose job function deal with the subject matter of investigation; and an order restraining the National Assembly from serving any further summons on telcos pending the determination of the action.

    Amended taxes, levies order 2015

    The telcos lamented that the Amended Taxes & Levies Order, 2015 engendered the institution of multiplicity of taxes across different tiers of government as it failed to fix the taxable rate resulting in the imposition of arbitrary levies and charges at the state government levels. “The industry is also burdened with enactment of laws at the state government levels to legitimate spurious levies and charges on our members which negates the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Specifically, item 3 (b) of the Amended Schedule to the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act introduced new levies and taxes under items 12 – 25. Most of these taxes and levies were hitherto contested by our members on the grounds that they were not applicable to telecommunications operations justified by the previous Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act 1998,” Adebayo said.

    He said it is disturbing that the entire instrument has given the state governments’ authorisation to coerce and disrupt the operations of telcos in order to compel the payment of sundry levies, charges and taxes.  Rather than Amended Order addressing the issue of multiple taxation; it on the contrary increased the tax burden of our members and adversely impacted the ease of doing businesses in Nigeria, he lamented.

     

    Telecoms services as critical national infrastructure

    The ALTON chief averred that telcoms industry supports many other economic sectors of the economy as it is also the first layer of critical infrastructure for socio economic development and security.

    According to him, unless telecoms facilities have first level of protection by government, it will be difficult to provide uninterrupted services to the citizens.

    “ALTON respectfully requests for an Executive Order to be issued designating Telecom Infrastructure as Critical National Security and Economic Infrastructure” as prescribed in the Cybercrime Act, 2015.  We commend the NCC for being in the forefront of making sure that the ease of doing business is achieved by all stakeholders in the industry.

    “ALTON respectfully seeks the intervention of the Minister of Finance to review the Amended Taxes and Levies Order 2015 which is adjudged to be inimical to the normal operations of telecommunication operations,” he said.

  • Telcos plan to ride on digital advertising

    Mobile phone companies are expected to maintain their advertising budgets at between three and four per cent of revenue in the next fiscal year. despite margin pressure as the need to deliver product messaging has become critical amid brutal price competition, experts said. The focus will be more on digital, including social media and videos, to reach out to customers directly, they added.

    “Telcos are in the red but they need to keep communicating amid tariff wars. They have access to millions and with the increase in social media access, they can talk to their subscribers one on one,” said media consultant Harish Bijoor.

    Also, Marketing Advisory CEO  Paul Writer  said: “As mass products, they will continue to spend on mass media such as print, outdoor, Tv along with social media and digital.”

    The telecom industry has been roiled by tariff wars following the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm, making advertising crucial for survival as companies look to attract new subscribers from those exiting or ring fence their own users from poaching. This costs money.

    “It is a myth that digital is cheap. It can be more targeted, hence, is more effective,” said a senior executive at Idea Cellular, India’s number three telco, which is merging its operations with Vodafone India. With the increase in data consumption, video advertising has become a key influencer,” he said.

  • TELCOS terrorism

    Have you ever been on the highway driving home after a dog’s day at work and your phone rings? You peek at it. It’s an unknown number and you ignore it. It rings off and rings again. You take another look; again an unknown number but a rather peculiar one. It’s a ‘mature’ number as a friend of Hardball would term it: In the sense that it belongs to the first or second generation series of numbers.

    And it keeps ringing relentlessly as if you are about to miss a major job if you ignored it. You reach out and manage to pick it and put it on speaker; disregarding the traffic code against fiddling with the phone while driving. And what do you get? A recording – someone desperately trying to sell you something.

    Gosh! Your brains literally explodes in ire and you reach out quickly to shut down the irritant; you miss with the first jab and the second … your car swerves a little. You ignore the phone; reclaim your wheels as the promo continues to rant searingly running its full course. Now you are probably boiling over and cursing furiously under your breath. You feel so thoroughly ravaged and your blood pressure may have gone up one notch.

    There are as many scenarios as there are GSM phone users in Nigeria. The telecommunications companies have grown from feeding frenzy on us their helpless game to the realms of terrorism. When this ravenously bad habit started about four years ago, it was enough to stay with those text-and-win promos.

    You must remember that crazy era when some of the telcos offered SUVs and millions of naira to be won if you recharged. That epoch ended when one of the firms lost its mind and offered us an aeroplane. RECHARGE-AND-WIN-AN-AEROPLANE was the promo that ‘killed’ all promos. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) eventually got shame-faced enough to snap from its slumber and tried to moderate the madness.

    No sleek-fingered telco has offered us a Concorde jet ever since but they have not stopped pecking at us like vultures upon a dying game. Hardball chose to keep his treasure of short messages from his service providers and in just one month of August, he got no fewer than 100 messages from each of the three lines he uses. The barrage of messages is a curious admixture of picking my pockets and obtaining by all manner of unscrupulous guises.

    Here are a few examples: Dateline August 11, 2016, time 20:33: Dear customer, you have successfully subscribed to MTNsports EPL and N50.00 deducted from your account. Your service will be renewed on 2016-08-18. To cancel, text stop EPL to 5836. Enjoy!

    One never remembered subscribing to the above and even if perchance I had been tricked into it as they are wont to do these days, I never received one word of information on the EPL game.

    But every week one gets the notification for renewal and deduction of N50.00. This is just one example. There are so many more from all the firms.

    If this is not criminality bordering on terrorism, then what is it?

     

  • NCC warns telcos over SIM card pre-registration

    NCC warns telcos over SIM card pre-registration

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned telcos over improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards. It said non-compliance with the rules  will attract severe consequences.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta who gave the warning after meeting with all the telcos at NCC Headquarters, Abuja, said security reports from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has shown  non-compliance to the Telephone Subscribers Registration Regulation 2011 by the telcos.

    The Monday meeting was the highpoint of several meetings initiated by the Commission in the last two years designed to find solutions to the recurrent dangers improperly registered SIM cards constitute to the country.

    “We must safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians who travel by road especially now that the festive seasons are around the corners and others who may be threatened or blackmailed via unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards,” Danbatta was quoted to have said in a statment endorsed by NCC Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo.

    Danbatta lamented that even where SIM cards were registered, the captured data represents strange figures different from the user of such SIM card.

    He said the dangers are real and everybody will lose at the end, hence the need to tackle it  before the situation gets out of hands.

    While appreciating the cooperation of the telcos so far in the race to solve this problem, Danbatta said much is left to be done “hence this meeting”, for continuous engagement.  “Today’s meeting has the backing of the government which desires solutions as quickly as possible,” he said.

    A 12-man taskforce was constituted to address the menace. The taskforce will ensure that operators put in place a robust and active back end to check cases of improperly registered SIM cards before activation amnong others.