Lagos, May 7, 2024 – Bismarck Rewane, a financial expert, has lent his voice to calls for higher tariffs by operators in the telecom sector.
Rewane, who is the Chief Executive of Financial Derivatives Limited, lent his support to the telecom operators while speaking during a recent Channels Television interview.
He noted that the last tariff hike in the sector was made 11 years ago, adding that there was the need to review prices of services in the sector to sustain the businesses.
Rewane said the current tariff regime was inhibiting the operators’ capacity to invest in infrastructure, hence the deteriorating quality of services.
He said poor quality of their services would not only affect the subscribers, but the economy at large.
“The last time there was a tariff review for the telecom sector was 11 years ago, in 2013. At that time, we had a president by the name of Goodluck Jonathan.
“Ever since then, there’s been President Buhari and now President Tinubu, and the price of a bag of cement at that time was 1,800. Today that bag of cement is 7,500, it had gone higher by 4,066%.
“A bag of rice at that time was N12,000 and now it’s up to N77,000. That is a 525% increase.
“The price of diesel was N196 and it went all the way to N1,900, that’s up to 1,000% and now it’s down to N1,400, which is an increase of 614%.
“The Naira was exchanged at N157 to a dollar, today, it’s N1,400 in the parallel market, a depreciation of 763%.
“So, if you check cumulative inflation from 2013 to now, it is 387%. The minimum wage then was N18,000, today, the labour union is asking for N615,000,” he said.
Rewane described the sector as a critical social infrastructure which currently contributes 10% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said people must be ready to pay the right price to enjoy the services.
Rewane said consumers got better services in other countries where the right prices were being paid.
“Just like petrol and electricity, if you go across neighbouring countries where their income and their GDP is lower than ours how come there are no queues in Benin Republic and no breakdown in power supply even in Togo?
“How come the telecom system works efficiently?
“If you underinvest in any sector, if you don’t manage that sector efficiently you will get low returns and inefficient outcomes so that is what it is you can’t eat your cake and have it. You have to pay to get quality service,” he said.
Operators in the sector, had a fortnight ago, appealed to the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) for approval of tariff hike to meet the current inflationary trend.
In a joint statement signed by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the operators said the sector was the only sector that had not reviewed its prices in the last 11 years in spite of rising inflation in the country. (GBN)
