Nigerians should brace up for data price hike again

The Federal Government says Nigerians should brace up for a hike in data prices, reversing the recent decision by the Nigerian Communications Communication (NCC) to suspend the implementation of the new price floor for data.

Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications, said on Tuesday, 6 December that the new prices are needed to cushion the very harsh environment in which telecommunication companies are operating.

“We certainly must not encourage a situation in this country where people who have brought their investment to make our lives better, to make businesses better, are left to operate in an environment which is not conducive, which may even frustrate them out of the Nigerian market,” the minister told the Senate Committee on Communications on Tuesday, at an interactive session with the NCC and major telecom operators over the directive issued by the Commission on the reintroduction of price floor.

The Senate had last week asked the NCC to immediately stop the hike in data tariff.

Shittu, who had earlier dissociated the ministry from the policy, appealed to lawmakers to respect the Commission’s independence.

“I am appealing to the distinguished Senate in intervening. They should try to encourage the NCC to be the best that it can. They should try to assist us in the area of holding the balance between the interest of operators and the interest of the Nigerian masses, so that we can be seen to be providing the best,” he noted.

Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman Nigeria Communications Commission, Umar Danbatta, said the regulatory agency did not at any time instruct telecommunication companies in the country to hike price of data for users.

Danbatta said what the NCC did was to introduce an interim price floor of 90 kobo per megabyte, below which telecommunication companies are not allowed to sell.

Danbatta said the absence of a price floor created a “price war” in the telecommunications sector that was becoming unhealthy for competition.

He said the NCC as a regulatory agency could not just fold its arms and watch the situation degenerate, and quickly had to move in with the interim price floor of 90k per data megabyte, to protect the consumer and prevent the emergence of a powerful monopoly in the sector.

Even though NCC had in a subsequent directive asked telecommunication companies to revert to status quo, the interactive session was aimed at clearing the air, following public outcry that greeted text messages sent out by telcos that effective December 1, consumers would begin to pay more for data bundles.

Also, one of the major telecoms operators, MTN Nigeria, said it was willing to comply with the NCC’s position but called for a proper cost and price analysis against current inflation rate and devaluation of the naira and the negative impact of Over The Top (OTT) operators.

Airtel and Etisalat expressed similar opinions, promising to abide by NCC directive suspending the price floor.

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE