Tag: telecom

Nigeria’s mobile network operators (MNOs) total operating expenditure (opex) rose from N3.16 trillion  in 2023 to N5.85 trillion in 2024 marking a significant increase of 85 per cent.

This was contained in data compiled by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Operating cost in a business refers to the expenses incurred in the day-to-day functioning and maintenance of the business operations.

It includes both the cost of goods sold (COGS), which are direct costs related to producing goods or services (such as materials, labor, and manufacturing expenses), and opex, which are indirect costs necessary for running the business, like rent, utilities, salaries for non-production staff, marketing, insurance, and administrative expenses.

According to the 2024 Subscriber/Network Performance Report compiled by the Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis Department of the NCC, most licensees of the regulator complained of high Right of Way (RoW) fees, harsh micro economic operating employment and rising inflation.

However, the NCC has been able to secure zero RoW fees in some states in year 2024., the report added.

“Operating cost: Five Trillion, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Four Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven Million, Four Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Naira, Seventy-One Kobo (N5,854,257,451,225.71) is the total operating cost collated in year 2024 which increased by 85% Year on Year from the Three Trillion One Hundred and Fifty Eight Billion Four Hundred and Three Million Seven Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand Three Hundred and Twenty Eight Naira Forty Eight Kobo (N3,158,403,767,328.48),” the report noted.

For capital expenditure (capex)/ domestic investment, the report showed about N2.9trillion in 2024 as against N1.12trillion invested the previous year

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“The Year-on-Year (2023/2024) comparison indicates a 159.03per cent increase in CAPEX expenditure in the industry. The Unification of Exchange (Parallel Market and CBN rates) rates of Naira to Dollar as well as inflation impacted on the value of Naira spent upgrading network facilities in the industry. Most of these network equipment are not manufactured locally but imported into the country,” the report noted.

On the revenue side, the MNOs posted about N7.67trillion during the period under review against N5.3trillion the previous year. This showed an increase of 44.70per cent.

On capital inflow or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Nigerian telecoms industry, the report noted that it was approximately $457million in 2024 as against $134.75million recorded in 2023, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In the area of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the telecoms industry contribution to the economy increased from 14.00per cent in the fourth quarter (Q4), 2023 to 14.40per cent in Q4, 2024 indicating a 2.86per cent growth year-on-year. “The Rebasing of the GDP is ongoing by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to extract optimally the contribution of the Digital Economy from the Information and Communication Sector,” the report noted.

Despite designating information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) through an Executive Order by President Bola Tinubu, the telecom sector continues to grapple with wilful vandalism, stealing of diesel, generators, inverter batteries, and access denial to base transceiver stations (BTS) by non-state actors, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.

Its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Dr Aminu Maida, said despite the collective efforts, several critical challenges persist.

He said: “So far this year, for example, there is an average weekly incidence of about 1100 fibre cuts, 545 access denial, and 99 theft incidences.”

He said access denial, vandalism, fibre cuts, and thef remained with the industry.

In a keynote at the Industry

Sustainability and Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Conference organised Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) in Lagos, Dr Maida who was represented by the Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Engr Edoyemi Ogoh, said a multi-stakeholder approach is needed to address the challenges besetting the industry.

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Speaking on these challenges, Dr Maida said: “Significant causative factors for service downtime is due to denial of access to sites which prevents required site operations and maintenance tasks from being carried out.

“Vandalism and cuts to fibre infrastructure as well as theft of both site equipment, cables and diesel are also major challenges.

“Power Supply Gaps: With majority of BTS relying on diesel, the cost of operations remains high.

“Right-of-Way bottlenecks: Multiple taxation and access delays across states continue to slow fibre rollout.”

Others, he said include permits for new telecom build delays, saying there are omplex and time consuming permit

process in some jurisdictions and delays of new sites permits for new site build

is leading to infrastructure gaps complicating the drive in assuring service quality.

“Cyber threats, particularly as OTT and IoT usage increases; security issues: The security situation in parts of the country has made the deployment, operations and maintenance communications infrastructure extremely challenging,” he said.

According to him, addressing these issues requires not just regulatory tools, but inter-agency cooperation, legislative backing, private sector responsibility, and public awareness.

On the way forward, he called for a multi-stakeholder agenda.

“To ensure the sustainability of our communications sector and the security of CNII, the way forward must rest on five pillars. These include public awareness and community ownership.

“We must scale campaigns that sensitise citizens to treat communications

infrastructure as national assets.

“Community-based surveillance programs can complement state-led enforcement,” he said, saying the media plays a key role in this regard.

Others include  improved inter-stakeholder collaboration on CNII protection; improved inter-stakeholder collaboration between players in the

communications industry and other critical stakeholders; and improved information sharing amongst stakeholders: Improved

coordination via information sharing with critical stakeholders.

The telecommunications sector is undergoing its most significant regulatory transformation in decades, as Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, pushes for critical reforms amid legacy challenges and shifting national priorities. Since assuming office in October 2023, Maida has trained his periscope on reform, prioritising data-backed regulation, compliance, and institutional efficiency.

“We are committed to strengthening the Commission’s regulatory processes, ensuring transparency, and boosting sectoral confidence,” he had said during an event in Abuja.

His leadership has gained presidential nod, particularly as the Commission prepares to implement the long-awaited amendments to the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.

The draft, being reviewed, seeks to update the legal framework in response to emerging threats like cybercrime, grey areas in inter-agency roles, and technological disruptions.

Maida’s regulatory approach marks a departure from that of his predecessor, Isa Pantami (2019–2023), whose push for digital inclusion led to milestones like Nigeria’s 5G rollout. “The 5G rollout alone is projected to add $11 trillion to the global economy by 2035,” Pantami had noted in 2022.

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However, that period also saw controversial decisions such as the NIN-SIM linkage policy, which led to the loss of over nine million mobile lines, and the Twitter ban, which reportedly cost the country $366.9 million.

The Minister, Bosun Tijani, has taken a more innovation-centred route, launching initiatives like the 3MTT digital skills programme and fast-tracking Nigeria’s fibre optic expansion. His efforts align with Maida’s goal of regulatory clarity, especially in infrastructure policy.

One area under urgent review is telecom infrastructure protection. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last August, designated telecoms as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII), yet operators continue to face sabotage.

According to the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), vandalism in Lagos alone has caused over ₦5 billion damages in a year.

“We are pushing for more robust enforcement clauses in the amended NCA,” Maida said, adding that infrastructure sharing and rights-of-way (RoW) standardisation are key to ending duplication and inefficiencies.

While policy shifts continue at the top, sectoral performance remains resilient. As of May, this year, broadband penetration stood at 48.15 per cent, and mobile subscriptions stabilised around 224 million, according to the NCC. The Commission has also deepened internal restructuring to strengthen oversight, though not without friction. Staff unions recently raised concerns over a wave of redeployment and new performance audits.

Still, Maida appears undeterred. “Our priority is to ensure that the Commission functions at optimal capacity – we cannot regulate a 21st-century industry with 20th-century tools,” he said.

With parallel momentum from the policy and regulatory fronts, Nigeria’s telecom landscape is gradually aligning for sustainable growth. The question is whether this new phase of reform can withstand the weight of old problems – and push the sector into a future that balances innovation with resilience

• Subscribers cry out

A small business owner in Ayobo on the outskirts of Lagos, Mrs Adejoke Arowosegbe, at the weekend, narrated her ordeal. She had gone to the Ok Plastics factory at Iyana Itire, also in the city to restock her shop while her sales girl kept the shop running. Since the cashless regime has gained a lot of traction, she opened an account with one of the fintechs.

A customer said he transferred N50,000 into her account. The sales girl saw the transaction details on the customer’s account but needed to confirm if madam had since it too because of the trust deficit existing within the space.

For over an hour, efforts to get madam on her phone to check if she had truly received the alert fell through. Since the customer was convinced that cash had left his account, he was not going to go without his purchases and there was a stalemate which was subsequently settled by the timely arrival of Mrs Arowosegbe.

For Joy Oni, her efforts to communicate her safe arrival in Akure to her parents in Lagos was the cause of her emotional trauma. Her parents remained in distress over a network that failed to work at the appropriate time. Joy could neither reach her dad, mom or any other siblings.

The experiences of Mrs Arowosegbe and Joy are but few out of the many bitter experiences Nigeria’s mobile network operators (MNOs) have subjected their customers to in recent times.

From Ekiti to Ebonyi, Kaduna to Kano, Maiduguri to Enugu, there has been a sudden decline in quality of service (QoS) which ironically is coming about two months after the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) acceded to their demand for an adjustment to end user tariffs of telecom services.

While the MNOs wanted a 100 per cent tariff hike, the NCC acquiesced to a 50 per cent adjustment. And like a damned river suddenly losing its fetters, the QoS dropped most significantly, according to subscribers. 

 “It is sad that the network has gone comatose after the implementation of the 50 per cent upward end user tariff.

 “We the customers have been left in the dark. No explanation from the MNOs, none either from the NCC,” Hon Sina Bilesanmi, a consumer rights advocacy activist lamented.

Bilesanmi who is the President, Association of Cable Tv, Telephone and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS-Nigeria), said he has been inundated with complaints from members of the association over the daily sinking of QoS and their seeming hopelessness and helplessness in the face of a lethargic sector regulator.

 “Recall that when the issue of tariff hike was approved, we in ATCIS gave them two weeks to improve service quality but the NCC gave them three months. Implementation started early February, we have appealed to our members to wait till the expiration of the three months. If they fail to do the needful, we will go back to the trenches. Our members are not getting the value for the money we are spending

 “I have been inundated with complaints by our members because they use the network. We receive thousands of complaints daily about unpalatable experiences on the network.

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 “The problem we are having is that the operators are not even communicating and for NCC, we don’t know if their officials use a different network because it is strange that they are not saying anything. I am sure that if they use the same network with us, they ought to have summoned the operators CEOs to Abuja.

The telcos asked for 100 per cent adjustment but we supported 50 per cent. The reason we did that was that telecom infrastructures have become the backbone of the national economy. It has become the infrastructure used by other sectors of the economy including banking, shipping and even the national security architecture. Besides that, we don’t want them to sack about 60,000 employees who directly and indirectly earn eke their living from the sector,” Bilesanmi said.

Chief Corporate Services Officer at MTN Nigeria, Tobe Okigbo, said though the NCC expects telcos to do something about customer experience in three months, he said MTN would fast track the timeline because if subscribers don’t use the network, the company will not remain in business.

Efforts to get the reaction of the NCC was unsuccessful as its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, failed to respond to media enquiries, ostensibly because there is nothing wrong in the service quality.

But the NCC had expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of service quality offered by telcos and urged the carriers to prioritize improving service delivery to ensure consumers receive value for their money.

The NCC had warned that if telcos fail to meet the required standards of service quality, they will face regulatory actions and sanctions.

The NCC’s actions are aimed at protecting consumers and ensuring a fair and sustainable telecommunications environment.

The NCC has also mandated that operators implement tariff adjustments transparently and educate the public about new rates while demonstrating measurable improvements in service delivery.

The NCC has established QoS standards to ensure consumers have access to high-quality telecommunications services, setting minimum quality levels for all operators.

Every mobile operator is required to report to the NCC quarterly on their network performance, including national, regional, and urban area reports.

The NCC has also directed telcos to make tariff information clear and understandable for all subscribers, including itemized prices for services and bundled plans.

The regulator is encouraging service providers to embark on consumer education campaigns to ensure subscribers have all the information needed to make informed decisions.

Almost three decades after the popular telecom revolution, access to telecom services in both rural and urban areas remains a challenge, according to findings.

This development is capable of frustrating the digitalisation of the economic push of the Federal Government, including financial inclusion, creating digital jobs, socio-economic inclusion and e-governance.

At the last count, no fewer than 217 clusters of access gaps had been identified. The figure has, however, been narrowed down to 114, which is still huge when the numbers of the digitally ‘disenfarchsied’ is considered.

According to the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) Clusters of ICT Gap shared on its website, it said it carried out the first study to identify clusters of voice telephony and transport network gap in the country in 2013 with an estimated population of about 36.8 million people and 207 clusters.

In another update study carried out in 2019, the number of people living in the unserved and underserved areas was estimated to have dropped to 31.16 million and the number of clusters reviewed down to 114.   Based on the outcome of the new study in 2022, the number of clusters has further dropped from 114 to 97 clusters with an estimated population of 27.91 million.

Each cluster was defined and their attributes (such as major towns, occupation, institutions, and vegetation type amongst others) identified.

The access gap map is assisting the USPF in designing projects and strategies to cover these gaps and ensure that everyone irrespective of locality is connected in 21st century Nigeria.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), believes that over 50 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to telecom infrastructure.

Its Executive Director, Dr Y.Z Yau said over 27million Nigerians lack access to telecom infrastructure.

His thinking aligns with that of the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji.

Dr Olatunji who spoke during the launch of the National Broadband Alliance for Nigeria (NBAN)  in Lagos, said 65per cent Nigeria’s population lives in rural areas, underscoring the necessity to get them connected into the digital super highway.

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 “By official statistics, it says that close to 27.1 million Nigerians have no access to infrastructures. Now, this is not talking about people who cannot afford it, because you have to have some money to buy data. The 27.1 million are those people who have no infrastructure at all, even money they can’t buy.

 “So, that 27.1 million, you have to add people who are extremely poor across the country. People who have one form of disability or the other, of course we don’t have enough devices for them. We have to include women who have fear of the internet. There are many women that fear the internet because of harassment, and privacy issues. So, if you add all those women, you will end up with more than 50 per cent of Nigerians,” Dr Yau had said.

Investments in the provision of telecom infrastructure in rural areas have largely not been forthcoming from mobile network operators (MNOs) due largely to lack of prospect to get returns on investment (RoI).

To bridge the funding deficit, USPF was formed, deriving a certain percentage of cash from operators.

As indicated on its website, it is mandated to “…facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria. The Fund is being managed to facilitate the widest possible access to affordable telecommunications services for greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria.”

The Fund has largely been seen as not living up to its mandate, underscoring calls for its general overhaul.

An official of CITAD who spoke during the NBAN launch in Lagos sought a review of the USPF Act to make it perform its role of providing access to unserved and underserved communities across the country.

Also, the Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), Gbenga Sesan, said the Fund has failed in its mission to get access to underserved and unserved communities in the country.

He had accused the Fund of being hijacked by politicians that hide under its guise to convert equipment raised for communities to pursue personal self-aggrandisment.

An agency of the Federal Government, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), said it is tackling rural access to ICT services problem by deploying access to all the 774 local government council headquarters across the country.

Its Managing Director and CEO, Jane Egerton-Idehen, saidwork has started in this direction. She said some 51 local council headquarters have been connected. In view of the huge size of the country, it is obvious that much still needs to be done to bring more Nigerians into the superhighway of ICT.

The Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has described as commendable,  Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) decision to suspend its Tuesday’s planned protest over approved 50 per cent increase in telecommunications tariffs.

The association’s Secretary-General, Mr Abdullahi Okonu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  in Lagos that the union, as a major stakeholder,  was knowledgeable about  issues in the sector.

Okonu said that the cost of resources needed to make telecommunications services available to the masses had increased.

“The only logical thing is for government to allow us to increase the tariff in order to meet up with the cost of running business and, at the same time, make profits,” he said.

The secretary-general also said that the increase was needed  to prevent collapse of the telecommunications sector and save jobs.

“We do not want a situation where workers in the private telecommunications sector will lose their jobs.

“Where  companies are struggling to meet up with running costs, of course, the first thing they will look at is how to reduce their overhead costs by sacking workers, which we do not want.

“Our members should be protected and their jobs should be protected.

“Also, if the telecommunications sector is allowed to collapse, definitely, it will have a negative impact on other sectors,” he said.

The Chairman of NLC, Lagos  State Council, Mrs Funmi Sessi, told NAN  that the council had already mobilised its members for the protest, but had to suspend it following a meeting between NLC and the Federal Government.

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Sessi called on the committee set up  following the meeting to come up with reasonable reduction from the 50 per cent increase.

“We appeal to the government to alleviate the financial burden of Nigerians,” she said.

NAN reports that NLC had suspended its planned nationwide protest against 50 per cent increase in telecommunications tariffs after the meeting a Federal Government representatives.

It agreed to negotiate with the Federal Government and resolve the dispute within two weeks.

Telecom operators yesterday raised the alarm over the review of annual payment structure under the Financial Reporting Council Amendment Act 2023 (FRC Act), warning that its implementation will hurt telecom operators.

Acting under the aegis of Association of licensed Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), the group warned that “the new structure would pose significant challenges for our members, especially in light of the prevailing harsh economic conditions in the country”.

A letter addressed to the Executive Secretary/CEO, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Dr Rabiu Olowo dated September 13, 2024 and jointly endorsed by the Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo and Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga of ALTON respectively, highlighted the concern of the reviewed annual payment structure.

“ALTON writes to express its deep concerns regarding the recent review of the annual payment structure under the Financial Reporting Council Amendment Act 2023 (FRC Act) particularly as it relates to non-quoted public interest companies.

As you are aware, the new payment structure is based on a percentage of the annual turnover of our member companies, rather than the previous maximum cap of N1 million that was payable under the Act. Section 33(1)(d) of the Act now requires private companies to pay their annual dues based on the computation below: 0.02% of annual turnover of N25million and below; 0.025% of annual turnover of more than N25million but not more than N50million; 0.03% of annual turnover of more than N50million but not more than N500million; 0.04% of annual turnover of more than N500million but not more than N1billion; 0.045% of annual turnover of more than N1billion but not more than N10billion; and 0.05% of annual turnover of more than N10billion.

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“On the other hand, Section 33(1) (c) of the Act determines the annual dues payable by quoted companies with reference to a percentage of their market capitalization up to a pre-determined lower amount, which is more favourable to publicly quoted entities compared to the non-publicly quoted entities.  For example, a publicly quoted company with market capitalization of N1trillion will be required to pay N25million as annual dues, whilst a non-publicly quoted company will be required to pay 0.05per cent of N1trillion amounting to N500million. We are concerned about the huge disparity in the amounts payable as annual fees by entities having the same turnover figure deserves to be addressed in the face of the harsh operating environment in the country.

“While we understand the rationale behind this review, we believe that implementing the new structure would pose significant challenges for our members, especially in light of the prevailing harsh economic conditions in the country. The telecommunications industry in Nigeria has been facing numerous headwinds, including rising operating costs and foreign exchange fluctuations. The current payment structure will place an undue burden on our members, potentially impacting their ability to maintain operations and continue providing critical services to the Nigerian public,” ALTON wrote.

The group noted that when considering the balance between enforcing the law and the need for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), as well as the demand for bridging the telecom infrastructure deficit to enhance digital penetration, it urged the FRC to consider adopting alternative computation for companies within the telecommunications industry.

“We respectfully urge the FRC to consider the following suggestions as alternatives: Computation of annual dues based on profit and not revenue.

“By virtue of the nature of the telecommunications industry, our members deploy significant capital towards carrying out their operations and bridging the telecommunications gap within the country. As such, there is a great disparity between the revenue of these companies and the profit which they declare. For example, a company might have a turnover of N200 billion and declare a profit of only N15 billion and it would be unfair for such a company to pay FRC dues based on its revenue. We consequently request that the FRC uses its good office to consider computation of the annual dues for companies within the telecommunications industry, based on their profit as opposed to revenue,” ALTON suggested.

Another suggestion was the reintroduction of a pre-determined cap on the FRC dues.

“We note that the new Act in Section 33 (1)(c) computes the annual dues payable by public companies based on their market capitalization but subject to a pre-determined cap. For example, a public company with a market capitalization of N500 billion will either pay 0.0025% of this amount or N20 million, whichever is lower. On the other hand, a private company with the same revenue will pay N250 million. This disparity is significant and unfair to private companies. In the interest of fairness, we urge your good office to consider reintroducing a pre-determined cap on the dues payable by non- quoted public interest entities, similar to that which is applicable to public companies.

“In the light of the foregoing, ALTON respectfully request you to use your good office to change the basis of computing the annual dues payable based on either of the option mentioned above.   We are committed to working constructively with the FRC to find a mutually acceptable resolution to this matter. We would be more than willing to arrange a meeting with your office to discuss this issue in detail and explore alternative solutions or payment arrangements that would be more manageable for our member companies.

“We firmly believe that a collaborative approach would be in the best interest of the industry, the regulatory environment, and the overall economic well-being of the country,” ALTON wrote.

Telecom service quality sank considerably yesterday as callers tried fruitlessly to connect to their loved ones in celebration of the New Year.

Many subscribers complained bitterly that since they could not travel home for the yuletide to celebrate with their families because of high transport fare and lack of money to spend when they get home, they had hoped the network will be fine for them to make calls so they could pray with their loved ones on phone.

An octogenarian, Madam Grace Emmanuel, said it has been her tradition over the past three years to call her children early morning after the cross over to pray with them. This year, she said was something else as all her calls went through but she could neither hear the children nor the children hear her.

“The network in Ilawe Ekiti has been so poor over the past two weeks. We don’t know what happened but it has been hell getting to make calls. The situation however worsened during the Yuletide, and especially on New Year day. I made several fruitless efforts to talk to my children in Lagos and other parts of the country. Each time I call or they call me, when I pick up the call, the network will start behaving like NEPA; we can’t her each other,” she said.

Ilawe is the headquarters of Ekiti South West Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

Another customer from the town, Biada S Biodun said he doesn’t know what has happened too. According to him, the service quality has diminished over the past weeks. He said: “We don’t know what happened. We just discovered that we are unable to make calls seamlessly the way it used to be. The situation worsened during the Yuletide may be owing to traffic congestion, you know people now rely on telecom infrastructure to link up with their loved ones. It is no longer sustainable to travel home to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

“We want to appeal to MTN Nigeria to help us investigate if there has been a cable cut or a possible service outage on the base transceiver station,” Biodun, an engineer said.

Subscribers in Lagos and other cities wondered if the telcos had started service shedding which they hinted at about three days ago.

Chibuke Anthony, a Lagos based businessman, lamented the sudden dive in service quality. “I don’t know what is happening. When I call and it is picked, I hardly hear what the caller is saying. Even the resort to WhatsApp call has not helped matters. My fear now is whether the operators have started service shedding because I read it in the paper that if they are not allowed to raise tariff, they will start offering service like NEPA which does load shedding,” he said.

Efforts to get reaction from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the operators were futile.

Calls put to Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Reuben Muoka, and to the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, were not picked. 

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Telecom operators had renewed calls for end user tariffs hike in the country, warning that the industry optics was grim, going into the New Year.

Acting under the aegis of ALTON, the operators warned of ‘service shedding’ as obtained in the power sector where load shedding has become the norm.

Adebayo, in a speech at a Stakeholders End of the Year Dinner held at the weekend in Lagos, said if nothing is urgently done, the industry will go under.

But in a swift reaction, a group, Association of Telephone Cable TV and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS), kicked against the call, urging the telcos to stop playing to the gallery.

ATCIS President, Sina Bilesanmi, said the operators were at liberty to increase tariff within the existing price regime, adding that the fear of competition will not allow them to do so.

Bilesanmi who is a member, Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF), a multi-sectoral committee of public and private sector institutions that works with Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to improve its protection of telecoms consumers from fraud, service challenges, and other online transaction risks, said: “Currently, the operators are charging different tariffs within the band set by the NCC which they have not totally exhausted,” he said, adding that the operators are playing politics.

ALTON Chairman said as the curtain falls on the 2024, there was need to issue an urgent and critical call to action for the future of the telecom industry

He said: “If nothing is done, we might begin to see in the new year grim consequences unfolding, such as service shedding; operators may not be able to provide services in some areas and at some times of the day leaving millions disconnected, there will be significant economic fallout, because businesses will suffer from a lack of connectivity, stalling growth and innovation. There will also be national economic disruption where key sectors like security, commerce, healthcare, and education which rely heavily on telecom infrastructure, will face serious disruptions,” Adebayo said.

 According to him, this is not a time for further deliberation or delayed decisions, arguing that the survival of the telecom sector demands immediate and bold reform for its sustainability.

“Our tariffs must be reviewed to reflect the economic realities of delivering telecom services at a minimum for industry sustainability. Without this, operators cannot continue to guarantee service availability.

“I must say it again with even greater urgency that we are in the last days for the survival of this sector and if immediate and decisive action is not taken, the hope for a better 2025 will remain just that—a hope.

“The challenges we face are not new, but they have become more acute and more threatening with this passing year. Rising operational costs, skyrocketing energy cost, the relentless pressure of inflation, volatile exchange rates, amongst other have all placed an unsustainable burden on network operators. Despite these mounting pressures, tariffs have remained stagnant, leaving operators trapped in a financial quagmire. The resources needed to maintain, expand, and modernize our networks are simply no longer available. Without intervention, the future of this sector is at grave risk.

“We are confident that history will judge us right for the role we have played in an attempt to rescue this sector. Stakeholders have stood together to uphold the values and importance of telecom in our society.

“However, let me be clear: our work is far from over. It is not enough to have kept the sector afloat; we must now focus on securing its future. The sustainability challenges we face today are not just a passing storm—they are a clarion call for decisive action to ensure that this industry thrives for generations to come,” Adebayo said.

He said despite the dire warnings, the operators still believe that a better 2025 is possible—but “only if we act now. Let this be the moment when we come together, acknowledge the urgency of the situation, and commit to saving this sector.

“If we fail to act, history will record that we had countless warnings, yet we allowed inaction to jeopardize one of the most critical pillars of Nigeria’s development. But if we succeed, 2025 can be the year we turned things around—a year of hope, resilience, and sustainability for the telecom industry.

“The time for action is now. Let us not wait until it is too late. ALTON stands ready to work with all stakeholders to ensure the survival and prosperity of this sector,” he said.

Recall there have been reports that the NCC had approved an upward tariff review which will take effect from January.

Bilesanmi also dismissed reports making the round concerning NCC granting approval for a 40per cent hike in end user tariff of telecom services.