THE GUARDIAN
The Federal Government appeared not to have wholly jettisoned the clamour by telecommunications operators in the country. Recall that earlier in the year, clamour by operators for tariff hikes became a significant discussion, especially on the need for the sustainability of Nigeria’s $76 billion telecoms industry.
But then, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, did not give a nod to the call. Instead, he challenged the industry to be more innovative in its business approach to remain afloat. Rather than for the tariff hike calls to wane, it was intensified, with players stressing that if not affected, the industry may collapse after operators continued to declare significant losses in their operations.
As it is, if the minister’s body language is anything to go by, telecoms operators might soon get the nod to increase tariffs, albeit marginally. Tijani had, during a television programme at the weekend, hinted at sustaining the sector come 2025, stressing that everything that needed to be done to keep the industry afloat would be explored.
“We have conducted a study on the Sustainability of the telecoms sector. The result should be out in about two weeks. This will reveal what we need to do to ensure we can support operators more for improved services.
“Beyond just the conversation, which is out there, which is about increasing the tariff, Yes, we think there may be a need for the hike, but lots more need to be done as a country to ensure that the sector is competitive and beyond just supporting them to be competitive, the government must support be investing in digital infrastructure as well,” the minister stated.
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