TheNewsGuru

Tag: Telecom Operators

  • Telecom operators justify 50% tariff hike

    Telecom operators justify 50% tariff hike

    The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has justified the recent 50 per cent hike in telecom tariffs, citing the need to adapt to rising economic pressures and ensure the sustainability of the industry.

    Mr Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman of ALTON, said this during an interview on television monitored by NAN on Tuesday in Lagos.

    He explained that the tariff increase was not taken lightly, but rather was a necessary response to the significant economic challenges facing telecoms operators.

    Adebayo said: “The industry has been grappling with escalating costs, including diesel, energy, and inflation, without a corresponding adjustment in tariffs for 12 years.

    “This has resulted in unsustainable operational costs, prompting telecom operators to seek a tariff review to maintain the quality of their services.

    “The 50 per cent tariff hike was approved by regulatory authorities after a thorough review of economic indices, and is in line with the provisions of the Communications Act.”

    The ALTON boss dismissed concerns that the increase was unconstitutional, stressing that the process followed due regulatory procedures.

    He assured that the tariff adjustment would ultimately benefit consumers, as telecom operators would be able to enhance service quality, optimise networks, and attract more investments.

    Adebayo also highlighted the impact of foreign exchange instability on the industry, noting that many telecom contracts were signed at previous exchange rates, while operators must now fulfill obligations at higher rates.

    He called for stability in the forex market to support industry growth, emphasising that a strong telecoms sector was essential for economic stability.

    “Furthermore, smaller telecoms players, burdened by high debt profiles, have been particularly vulnerable to the economic downturn, making network optimisation crucial.

    “I urge the public to recognise that rising costs are a global economic reality, and not unique to the telecom industry.

    “I also wish to assure our subscribers that telecom operators are committed to improving services and attracting more investments, leading to job creation and better overall service quality.

    “The industry is now in a stronger position than in previous years.

    “With increased investments and improved infrastructure, we are confident that the sector will continue to drive economic growth and provide better services to Nigerians,” Adebayo explained.

  • Telecom Operators rule out 5G interference with flights

    Telecom Operators rule out 5G interference with flights

    Nigerian telecom operators on Wednesday allayed fears of 5G’s interference with flight operations in the country.

    The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) made the clarification in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo and Head of Operations, Gbolahan Awonuga.

    NAN reports that there has been ongoing debate in the United States over the risk of interference between 5G network and aviation equipment.

    Industry stakeholders in Nigeria and subscribers of telecom operators have also been expressing concerns that the country’s aviation sector might experience the same issue.

    The association, however. said that the context in Nigeria was different, noting that the guard band that exists between the spectrum frequencies allocated by Nigeria Communication Commission( NCC) for 5G services and those allocated to aviation industry remains in the region of 400MHz.

    It said that the allocation was in line with the guidelines instituted by National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), the government agency responsible for sectorial allocation of spectrum and the NCC.

    “This means that there is no greater risk of interference with 5G networks than there is with any of the existing transmissions taking place in the frequencies adjacent to those used by radio-altimeters.

    “We fully understand why the suggestion of risk to the aviation industry is so emotive for so many Nigerians.

    ” ALTON is fully committed to working with the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), the NCC and other relevant regulatory agencies towards providing as much clarity as is required to ensure that Nigerians’ have the information they need to analyze and understand these issues properly,” it said.

    The Association said that while the issues being discussed were highly technical, it is important to ensure they are explained and understood in the simplest possible terms.

    It said that it was also necessary that they highlighted the major differences between the situation in the USA and the structures in place in Nigeria.

    According to the association, mobile networks, just like radio, TV and other broadcast services, operate using bands of spectrum (frequency ranges) that are allocated by the government to allow the transmission of different services.

    It noted that these bands of spectrum were deliberately structured in a way that prevents interference between them, by ensuring that what is called a ‘guard band’ (an unused part of the radio spectrum) exist between the frequencies.

    “The simplest way of understanding this is to use the radio station as an example.
    When trying to tune in to a specific station, you will find that you may pick up some of the transmission on either side of the exact frequency for that radio station.

    “This is because radio transmissions are particularly likely to ‘overspill’ into space on either side of the transmission frequency that is being used.

    “This same concept applies to all transmissions and is why guard bands are put in place. They are unused spectrum frequencies on either side of the allocated frequency for transmission, which ‘guard’ against the overspill, “the association said.

  • NCC tasks telecom operators on efficient usage of FOREX allocation

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has called on telecom operators to ensure efficient usage of FOREX allocation to prevent capital flight.

    NCC made the call at a meeting with operators on “Framework for Confirmation of Reasonableness of Service Requests’’ in Abuja on Tuesday, while deliberating on ways to overcome the challenges of FOREX allocation in the sector.

    Prof. Danbatta Umar, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC said that as telecom services increased, it was imperative to expand coverage and optimise network capabilities through network elements which often engaged overseas vendors.

    Danbatta was represented at the forum by Mr Bashir Idris, Head, Competition and Tarrifs Unit of the Policy Competition and Economic Analysis Department of NCC.

    He said that these services were priced by the overseas vendors in foreign currencies and Nigerian telecom operators were required to pay for such services in foreign currencies thereby creating significant demand for foreign exchange.

    “The CBN, in ensuring monetary and price stability and maintaining external reserves to safeguard the international value of the Nigerian currency, sought our assistance to address demand for foreign exchange by telecom industry.

    “By virtue of this collaboration, the NCC provides expert advice and vets invoices and international payments to overseas vendors by telecom companies in Nigeria in order to ensure efficient usage of the FOREX allocation.

    “This is for prevention of capital flight and round tripping amongst other things.

    “This ultimately led to the development of appropriate rules and procedures for the processing of confirmation of reasonableness of service request/application submitted by CBN to the commission on behalf of Nigerian telecom,’’ he said.

    Danbatta said that NCC in performing its role had observed instances of over-quoted invoices, double submissions, untenured contracts and demand notices not backed by required valid contract agreements.

    He recalled that similar Confirmation of Reasonableness of Service (CRS) were held in 2003, 2009, and 2013 where subsisting procedures were developed and updated to guide the payments of invisible trade transactions.

    Danbatta therefore called on all participants to contribute actively and constructively at the forum to help to enrich the CRS application process.

    Mr Bashir Idris, the Head, Competition and Tariffs Unit of NCC, said the forum was to present a revised guideline for processing reasonableness of service requests.

    “There are tangible and intangible assets being put together by operators, NCC is in charge of assessing the reasonableness of the pricing of the intangible assets like software.

    “It is collaboration between the NCC and CBN to prevent the capital flight and all manner of infringement on our foreign exchange reserves.

    “To make sure that whatever the operators are paying out to their vendors outside the country are actually what they should be paying out so that the country is not short changed.

    “Over time since 2003 when we started this exercise, new challenge came up and we reviewed the guidelines to address those challenges so as not to put any of the parties in a difficult situation in their operations,’’ he said.

    Idris said the forum was to help all stakeholders in the telecom industry on the way forward and tackle new challenges that had been noticed in the last couple of years.

    He said this would ultimately benefit the telecom consumers because it would bring about realistic pricing based on realistic costing.

     

  • NATCOMS decries levies by telecom operators

    NATCOMS decries levies by telecom operators

    The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) on Wednesday expressed displeasure at the numerous levies saddled on members by telecoms operators.

    The National President, Mr Adeolu Ogunbanjo made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

    According to him, the association is kicking against the new levy because it will lead to mobile operators jacking up their prices and that will affect subscribers.

    He added that it would also affect the growth of the industry and urged for its total removal.

    “The recent directive by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposing 0.00 per cent levy on all electronic transactions is a levy too many.

    “There are 38 levies already and this is the 39th imposed on telecoms operators by the three tiers of government and their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    “This is so wrong because the burden of it all will be on subscribers.

    “The network operators are complaining of these numerous levies and hindrances, adding that it has an adverse effect on network delivery and efficiency,” he said.

    Ogunbanjo said that the levy would not augur well for the telecoms industry in the country as it was coming when the world was encouraging people on data usage.

    He said that what the government was doing was to encourage subscribers on one hand, and on the other hand make things expensive with the introduction of the levy.

    “This should not be entertained at all and we are joining other industry stakeholders in condemning it.

    “Government is talking about all electronic transactions and we are going cashless, it is simply unacceptable, they should have a rethink,” he said.

    Recently, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) revealed plans by government to implement Section 44 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, ETC) Act of 2015 (PDF).

    Section 44 of the act highlights the establishment of the National Cyber Security Fund, which is to be funded by 0.005 per cent levy charged on all electronic transactions and to be domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The ATCON National President, Mr Olusola Teniola, revealed that the apex bank notified the association to be ready for the collection of the 0.005 per cent levy to finance the fund.

    Teniola claimed the levy would not only affect telecom operators and Internet Service Providers, but firms in the financial industry would also feel the impact.

     

  • Telecom operators want FG to revisit issue of Right of Way

    Telecom operators want FG to revisit issue of Right of Way

    Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has called on the Federal Government to revisit the issue of Right of Way (RoW) to make the telecom industry to thrive.

    RoW is generally used for the telecommunications industry to denote the land on which telecom companies may lay their telecom infrastructures including connectivity cables.

    Mr Gbolahan Awonuga, the Secretary of ALTON made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.

    Awonuga said that the issue RoW and multiple taxation had been a problem in the telecommunication sector.

    “Government should do the needful and not see telecom industry as cash-cow; we are in recession and telecom is an exceptional as we in the same ecosystem.

    “Government should make things conducive for stakeholders in the sector so that they can give world class service to Nigerians.

    “It depends on the government actions and policy, the issue of multiple taxation and right of way has been the problem in the telecom sector.

    “The cost of right of way alone is not helping the situation and that is why government should do the needful to achieve the broadband plan that is targeted for 30 per cent in 2018.

    “I don’t have a different opinion from the regulators if they say we can achieve it, achievable in what sense, is it by mobile or by last mile; if the regulator said we can achieve it, there is no issue about that.’’

    Last mile or last kilometre is a colloquial phrase widely used in the telecommunications, cable television and internet industries to refer to the final leg of the telecommunications network that deliver services to the end users.

    “But in order to make things easier for telecom operators, they need to revisit the issue of right of way, if the issue of right of way is still a challenge then the problem in the industry will still exist.’’

    Awonuga said broadband penetration had to do with right of way, adding that if the right of way was inaccessible and too expensive, then broadband would be expensive “and you have to weigh the cost to the price’’.

    He said that the telecom operators had problem with states shutting down their sites.

    “Currently Taraba State Government is shutting down our sites despite the insecurity in the state by requesting for illegal revenue which the operators doesn’t have.

    “They want to do Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which is the function of the Ministry of Environment and not for states, so Taraba State should liaise with the Ministry of Environment and come out with a solution but they refused.

    “In Taraba State now about 80 per cent of our sites have gone down and this will affect security in the state as time goes on,’’ he said.

    Awonuga appealed to government to priorities telecom infrastructure as “Critical National Security Infrastructure’’.

    He said that once this was done, anybody found tampering with telecom infrastructure was committing a crime and would be dealt with accordingly.

    “The pronouncement by the president referring to the telecom infrastructure as “critical is what we need in 2018’’.

     

  • Data price hike: Senate meets NCC, Telcos

    Data price hike: Senate meets NCC, Telcos

    Following the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) u-turn on data tariff increase, the Nigerian Senate committee on communications on Tuesday met with the telecommunications regulatory body and major telecommunications company in Nigeria to determine the correct pricing for data.

    It could be recalled that telecom operators announced intention signalled by the NCC to increase data price effective December 1, which was halted by the Nigerian Senate with a mandate on the Senate committee on communications to investigate the proposed hike in data tariff.

    While the NCC had since made the u-turn without implementing the increase, and the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria never authorized NCC to hike data tariffs, indications from the investigative meeting held yesterday, both the NCC and the telecoms operators are bent-on on hiking data price.

    Speaking at the meeting, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, relayed the Senate’s concern over the proposed data price increase. Senator Adeola said that Nigerians were united in their opposition that the proposed increase in the price of data should be stopped. According to the senator, the hike in data price was ill-advised especially with the biting economic situation in the country.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Mr Umar Danbatta, while addressing the committee, said that the intervention of the NCC was not designed to rip-off the consumers. Danbatta explained that if cheap prices were introduced, they may end up undermining the telecom service operators.

    According to Danbatta, the need to avert crisis in the telecom industry informed the introduction of the interim price floor for data services – ₦0.90k per megabyte.

    “We wanted to protect the Nigerian consumer from unhealthy price war in what may lead to a monopoly that may lead us to the days of NITEL,” Danbatta said.

    “We did not increase any price but merely provided a regulatory standard to protect small telecom operators,” he added.

    In the defence of the NCC, Danbatta said that there were some telecom operators that lacked the capacity to compete with the big operators in the field. Therefore, the ₦0.90k price floor for data was a benchmark below which no operator could sell.

    The Communications Minister at the meeting said that in reality the telecom service providers were operating under unfriendly business environment including lack of electricity and increasing security challenges.

    “This is one area that I believe that we all must face the reality. The government in its wisdom, and I am happy the National Assembly, promulgated the National Communications Act which required that there be established an NCC.

    “If you look at the NCC law, it is positioned to reflect experiences, expertise and all of that and I want to believe that there must not be too many interventions in the activities of the NCC,” Shittu said.

    Adebayo Shittu while reflecting on the data hike pointed out that the NCC was deficient at properly communicating the new price floor to the public. He, however, appealed to the Senate to assist in the area of holding the balance between the interest of the operators and the interest of the Nigerian masses.

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Etisalat, Matthew Willsher, while speaking to the Senate Committee said that the absence of a price floor is a major problem, adding that the absence of a data price floor led to the dramatic decline in data pricing.

    Ferdinand Moolman, CEO of MTN, who was also in attendance spoke about the impact of inflation on the sector. Mr Moolman asked that the NCC does a proper cost and price analysis which will factor in the current inflation in the country.

    Moolman said, “All of us aware that inflation is going up to 17 to 18 per cent, we have experienced price increase in all other sectors yet we have seen price drop in the telecoms sector in the last two or three years and you have heard this said by a number of speakers”.

    Addressing the committee’s concerns on the data price hike, Danbatta explained that the NCC does not set prices but provide regulatory safe guides.

    Danbatta made it clear to the Senate Committee that the NCC would conduct an extensive scientific research to determine the correct pricing for data that would be acceptable to Nigerians.

  • Failed Data Hike: Expect poor data services, telecoms operators warn consumers

    Following a failed attempt by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC and the various service providers in the country, to hike the prices of data, the Association of Licenced Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) on Thursday informed consumers to expect poor data services.

    The Chairman of ALTON, Mr Gbenga Adebayo said in a statement in Lagos, that there was the need for an upward review, so as to offer better data services to subscribers.

    Adebayo said that the operators fully understood the public sentiments that greeted the announcement of a minimum data tariff being introduced by the NCC.

    He said that the NCC intervened to set the data tariff floor in view of its statutory responsibility to promote healthy competition, by periodically reviewing voice and data tariffs in the industry.

    According to him, the commission’s intervention is to ensure the sustainability of the Nigerian telecommunications industry.

    He also said that the regulatory body had extensive consultation with the industry prior to the finalisation of the data tariff floor.

    “Further, the commission has since Wednesday suspended the implementation of its determination on the data tariff floor.

    “ALTON notes that it is within the statutory remit of the NCC for it to make decisive interventions to address the data price concerns which had led to data prices falling to unreasonably low levels.

    “This is with the effect that telecommunications operators were unable to recover the cost of providing data services and reinvest in capacity expansion to accommodate the increased usage arising from lower tariffs.

    “The situation has been compounded by the recent economic challenges characterised by the steep depreciation of the naira.

    “It is characterised by the need to resort to the parallel market and foreign exchange scarcity, which have considerably increased the capital and operational cost of providing telecommunications services.

    “This has made current data tariffs unsustainable.

    “This situation, if left unaddressed, could result in a sustained deterioration in the quality of data services across all networks and the attendant poor quality of experience for users.

    “In this regard, our members await the conclusion of NCC’s market study, when the commission will be in a position to determine its requisite intervention,’’ Adebayo said.

    He said that NCC introduced the minimum price for data services to help ensure cost recovery and drive the continued investment in the telecommunications sector.

    The ALTON chairman said that it was necessary for the provision of world-class data services for the overall benefit of the Nigerian subscriber and the Nigerian economy.

    “It is our belief that interventions such as these are in keeping with the NCC’s tradition of implementing customer-centric regulatory initiatives such as the Do-Not-Disturb Service and the Mobile Number Portability Scheme.

    “These were introduced to enhance customer satisfaction with telecommunications services.

    “ALTON also notes that price changes for data services across all networks following any intervention by the NCC are not expected to have a detrimental effect on broadband penetration contrary to some sentiments being expressed in the media.

    “ALTON wishes to emphasise that while it is imperative that telecommunications operators continue to explore opportunities to provide their subscribers with more value for their money, it is important that prices be set at realistic levels.

    “This will ensure that subscribers are not only able to afford services, but that operators are also in a position to provide first-rate Quality of Service to their subscribers,’’ he said.

    Recall that the NCC on Wednesday suspended any further action on the directive to introduce price floor for data segment of the telecommunications sector beginning from December 1, 2016.

    The Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo said in a statement that the decision to suspend the directive was taken after due consultation with industry stakeholders and the general complaints by consumers across the country.

    Ojobo said that the commission had weighed all of these and consequently asked all operators to maintain the status quo until the conclusion of study to determine retail prices for broadband and data services in Nigeria.

    He said that the regulatory body wrote to the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) on November 1, on the determination of an interim price floor for data services after the stakeholder’s consultative meeting of October 19.