Telecom subscribers under the aegis of National Association of Telecom Subscribers in Nigeria (NATCOMS) said it may head to court to challenge the 50 percent tariff hike approved for the telecom operators by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

NATCOMS in a letter signed by Deolu Ogunbanjo, national president, and Bayo Omotubora, legal counsel, said that the body, seeking reduction of the hike to 10 percent and is hoping that the commission will respond favourably, else it will file a suit against the commission.

The letter read in part: “The Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) recent approval of 50% hike in tariff for telecommunications services is tantamount to throwing the generality of Nigerians, who are the Consumers of the telecommunications services under the bus for a grinding crush over, and we dare say, it is an overkill.

“It is quite regrettable that the Commission seems to have abdicated its primary responsibility of protecting telecoms consumers from the unabridged quest of the telecoms operators to maximize profits at all costs.

“The Operators have various options to fall back to, generate capital to retool their operations, aggressive debtors chase, intra-industry debts, without casting the unbearable burden of 50% tariff hike on the hapless Telecoms Subscribers.

“There was an era in the telecommunications industry when mega profits in the region of billions were reaped by the Operators, why should they now be allowed to burden the consumers with 50% tariff hike. They can as well plough back those billions to improve service delivery.

“There is also the option of funding their businesses with loans either within Nigeria or from other countries where interest rates are predictable, after all, they are in business.

“The Operators should be advised to explore other options and spare their over-burdened customers this new yoke. Every Ministry, Department and Agency of the Government seems to be in a race to over-burden consumers of goods and services by devising various ways to slam the citizens with multiple levies.

“If it is not petroleum price hike, it will be electricity band hike, international passport price hike, custom duty hike, all kinds of disguised taxes coming in torrents against the citizens. The telecoms tariff-hike is now an addition.

“The implications of the 50% hike are many and damaging. Small businesses that depend on telecoms services will be out of business as fast as today. Our children in schools who depend on data to do a number of things will now be denied the opportunities and subtly disrupt their academic programmes. The senior citizens who depend on telecom services to keep in touch with their children will now have to fall back to analogue era. Big businesses that run multiple services on data, will simply pass the costs to their customers who are still the consumers. The list is endless.

“In the premises of the foregoing, we are appealing to the NCC not to implement the 50% tariff hike, but, advise the Operators to look elsewhere for funds, after all, all of them are private businesses. Even where tariff hike is justified, a 10% hike would have been a balancing measure, whilst exploring other funds raising measures as aforementioned”.

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it generated N195.8 billion in revenue from annual operating fees and spectrum fees, among other sources, in the 2024 fiscal year.

Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman/chief executive officer (CEO/EVC), NCC, said this when he appeared before the joint National Assembly Committee on Communications for the 2025 budget defence session.

Maida said N137.6 billion was earned from annual operating fees and N26.4 billion from spectrum fees and several other sources, while the commission had remitted N111 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

He noted that the commission had targeted earning N292.3 billion in the fiscal year but missed the target due mainly to its inability to auction one slot of the 5G spectrum.

“That is also what impacted the transfer to the federal government because a great proportion of spectrum fees is limited to the CRF”, Maida noted.

He said NCC is targeting N272.433 billion from levies, spectrum fees, and other revenue sources in 2025, adding that a total recurrent expenditure of N95.668 billion, capital of N10.735 billion, and special projects of N30.13 billion are being projected for the financial year.

Also speaking, Yakubu Gontor, director of financial services, NCC, said with the introduction of new technologies, including 6G, the federal government could generate a record of over $1 billion in revenue.

“Regarding spectrum sales, it is a 10-year cycle for two reasons. Number one is the lease. Just like when you lease a piece of land, you will celebrate when they pay you a 10-year lease. But for the next nine years, it is that money from the 10 years you will rely on,” he added.

In his remarks, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, committee’s co-chairman, assured NCC of adequate funding in the 2025 budget to support the telecom sector, contributing significantly to the country’s economy.

Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to reevaluate its opposition to the proposed 50 per cent tariff increase.

This request was made by PTECSSAN in a letter signed by Okonu Abdullahi, organization’s general secretary, and sent to the Nigeria Labour Congress.

The association urged the NLC to reconsider its decision to launch rallies and demonstrations over the proposed tariff rise in the letter, which was seen in Lagos on Friday.

It said that the only way to keep the industry from collapsing was to raise tariffs.

“If the sector is allowed to collapse, other sectors, including finance and security, will be affected,” PTECSSAN said

PTECSSAN said that the sector had, hitherto, been burdened by rising operational costs.

“The removal of fuel subsidy by the government has led to an exponential increase in the prices of petroleum products, thereby increasing the cost of maintaining telecommunications sites across the country.

“The price of Automated Gas Oil used in powering base stations rose from N842.25 to N1,441.28 between May 29, 2023, and Jan. 27, 2025.

“Similarly, the price of Premium Motor Spirit used to fuel field engineers’ cars increased from N198 to N1,030 and higher within the same period.

“Furthermore, the introduction of a floating exchange rate policy has increased the cost of importing equipment needed to maintain and upgrade telecommunications infrastructure,” PTECSSAN said.

The group added that telecommunications providers now had to pay extra to import equipment because the value of the Naira had dropped from N460 to N1,700 to the dollar.

It underlined that the implementation of a new electricity tariff with various bands had made the high cost of operating telecommunications installations even worse.

It claimed that if the government did not allow the rate rise, telecommunications companies operating under the auspices of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ALTON) had been warned that the industry would soon collapse.

According to PTECSSAN, one of the sector’s CEOs had likewise compared the current state of affairs to that of a patient on life support.

Additionally, the group noted that the proposed rate rise would allow telecom companies to raise employee compensation, which had been static because of rising operating costs.

It said that although employees in the public and private sectors had benefited from pay increases brought about by the new minimum wage law, those in the telecoms industry had not been as lucky.

“Some telecommunications operators have started considering service shedding across the country to break even, which would affect other sectors, including finance and security.

“We, therefore, appeal to the NLC to rescind its decision to embark on protests and demonstrations against the proposed tariff increase, as this is the only way to prevent the collapse of the sector,” PTECSSAN said.