Two months after writing to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, demanding for tariff adjustment, telecommunication operators, telcos, have insisted that the best way to sustain growth in the telecom sector in this economic headwind is to adjust tariff to reflect operation cost. They are appealing to the regulator to understand that yielding to their demand will not only arrest the prevalent loss of revenues among the telcos, but also steady the sector towards sustaining its appreciable contribution to the growth of gross domestic product, GDP.
The telcos gave their reasons at a special reception hosted by the industry players under the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, in Lagos. The event also served as a platform for ATCON to introduce Maina to industry leaders and pledge support to the Nigerian telecom sector. ATCON President, Mr. Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, emphasised the association’s commitment to working with the NCC. He said: “I welcome the Executive Vice-Chairman, EVC to our industry, Dr. Aminu Maina. It’s a traditional event that we always do at ATCON to host all key stakeholders and we believe that the EVC of NCC is a major stakeholder in our industry. “We do this from time to time and we’re very privileged and honoured to have him here in our presence. “
We pledge to continue to work with the Commission as we have done in the past. He highlighted ATCON’s long standing role in representing industry interests and facilitating dialogue between regulators and operators. Meanwhile, several industry leaders delivered goodwill messages, expressing their support for Dr. Maina’s leadership. They also highlighted key challenges facing the sector, including: Price caps, energy costs, multiple taxation among others. One of the industry leaders, MD/CEO, Pan African tiles, Mr Amida Azizi, said: “First, I think when EVC got appointed, most of us didn’t know what to expect.
For all we heard was the exploits he’s done in his previous appointments and I think ever since you came in, you basically showed us that you’re clear on your drivers and you want to collaborate with the industry and that has been very clear with engagements we’ve had from time to time and we really truly appreciate it. “We believe that there’s now a lot, you brought a balance of governance and a listening ear and that’s something that is very rare and we appreciate that. We are still expectant about a few big things that have to come into the industry. “Again it’s like a broken record. The price cap has always been a very big issue. “In this room alone, we consume more than 50 million litres of diesel every month, we need interventions for those things.
