TODAY’S VIEWPOINT IS ON FIFTY PERCENT TELECOM TARIFF HIKE: A BITTER PILL FOR NIGERIANS AMIDST ECONOMIC STRUGGLES. IT IS WRITTEN BY PENSIONERS FM
Recently, the Nigerian communications commission, NCC, dropped a reeling bombshell.
It approved 50% increase in telecom tariff, exercising its power in line with section 108 of the Nigerian communications act, 2003, which allows adjustment of tariff rates and charges.
Some operators, according to NCC, had requested more than one hundred percent increment.
The NCC adduced the hike in tariff to the need to bridge the growing gap between operational costs and current telecom tariff.
to nigerans, NCC’S announcement is a pill too bitter to be swallowed.
already, the man on the street sags under the weight of oil subsidy removal, rise in value added tax from 5 to 10 %.
Currently, one minute call is eleven-naira, text message is four naira, while one gigabyte of data is around two hundred- and eighty-seven-naira, five kobo
Fifty percent increase in telecom tariff means a call will jump to about n18.33, text message n6.67 and one gigabyte rising to n479.17
This tariff increase will no doubt have a domino effect across sectors of the economy, just as fuel subsidy removal has had till date.
For students, the implication is scary as data purchase would be very expensive.
Online application, admission processes, bills payment and other financial transactions are also going to feel the ripple effects of the telecom tariff increase.
It will equally impinge on cost of internet related services in the health sector, thus impacting on bills for patients and their families this, added to the spiralling cost of food, and essential commodities, surging house rent and school fees, is crippling and reeling to the average nigerian, to the least.
The world bank’s estimated that Nigeria’s poverty rate would be around 40.7% by the end of last year, based on projections that many more Nigerians will fall below the international poverty line due to high inflation and low wages.
The national bureau of statistics (NBS) the same period painted no less gloomy picture, reporting that over 133 million Nigerians lived in poverty.
50% hike in telecom tariff will surely exacerbate the scourge of poverty in the country this year.
It is worth to note that the Ncc admits that it understands the dire economic situation of nigerians in making the adjustment.
Given such acknowledgment, it is expected of government to weigh any tariff adjustment significantly in favour of nigerians to ease economic burden.
Let the poor breathe was a prominent slogan of the present administration when it was canvassing for votes in 2023.
The masses are gasping for breath at the moment.
That viewpoint was on the fifty percent telecom tariff hike: a bitter pill for Nigerians amidst economic struggles
