Minister Attributes Hike In Telecom Tariff To Global Inflation

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, explained that the recent increase in tariffs by mobile network operators (MNOs) is a result of global inflationary pressures, highlighting the broader economic factors influencing these adjustments.

Recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved requests from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to increase tariffs by up to 50 percent.

The NCC’s decision follows extensive consultations with stakeholders across the public and private sectors, as the regulator sought to strike a balance between protecting consumers and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry.

The decision comes in response to the prevailing operational costs faced by telcos in the country.

Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday after his Ministry’s 2025 budget defence, Mt. Tijani said MNOs had for long been trying to effect the increment because of the global inflation but were prevented from doing so by the federal government.

“I think the hike in price is based on inflation globally; this is a sector that has not increased prices for a long time; in fact, this is a sector that has not increased prices for a long time. In fact, what the government has been doing is managing the situation. The company has been crying out for a long time that they are struggling with the cost of diesel. You can imagine how much the cost of diesel is. This is not a problem that is unique to Nigerians, but what we have done with them is saying that telecommunications services are now extremely important to Nigerians, so it’s not something you can increase the price. We have to make sure the sector continues to be sustainable, and as well, we don’t want them to inflate pain on Nigerians,” he said.

Mr. Tijani therefore assured Nigerians that the Ministry will continue to ensure they get quality services for their money.

“We will ensure that, even as we increase the tariffs, the MNOs can continue to deliver the best quality services to the people. NCC is doing a lot more tracking now to ensure that the quality of the services that people will get is of good quality,” Mr Tijani said.

The tariff hike, capped at a maximum of 50 percent, falls short of the over 100 percent increase initially sought by some network operators.