Following deluge of criticism and condemnation, the Nigerian<\/p>\n
Communications Commission, NCC, has, Wednesday, suspended its planned data
\ntariff increase.<\/p>\n
This is following the Senate order to halt the increment as well as the
\npublic outcry that greeted the planned action.<\/p>\n
NCC announced the immediate suspension of the new minimum pricing template
\nfor data services by mobile operators saying the decision is to allow for
\nfurther consultation.<\/p>\n
In a statement Signed by it\u2019s Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, the
\ncommission said \u201cdirective was taken after due consultation with industry
\nstakeholders and the general complaints by Consumers across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
It said it has therefore directed all operators to maintain the status quo
\nuntil the conclusion of study to determine retail prices for broadband and
\ndata services in Nigeria is done.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the concerns that visited the directive to introduce price
\nfloor for data segment of the telecommunications sector beginning from
\nDecember 1, 2016, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has
\nsuspended any further action in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to suspend this directive was taken after due consultation
\nwith industry stakeholders and the general complaints by Consumers across
\nthe country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission has weighed all of this and consequently asked all
\noperators to maintain the status quo until the conclusion of study to
\ndetermine retail prices for broadband and data services in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecall that the Commission wrote to the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)
\non November 1, 2016 on the determination of an interim price floor for
\ndata services after the stakeholder\u2019s consultative meeting of October 19,
\n2016. The decision to have a price floor was primarily to promote a level
\nplaying field for all operators in the industry, encourage small operators
\nand new entrants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe price floor in 2014 was N3.11k\/MB but was removed in 2015. The price
\nfloor that was supposed to flag off on December 1, 2016 was N0.90k\/MB.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn taking that decision, the smaller operators were exempted from the new
\nprice regime, by virtue of their small market share. The decision on the
\nprice floor was taken in order to protect the consumers who are at the
\nreceiving end and save the smaller operators from predatory services that
\nare likely to suffocate them and push them into extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe price floor is not an increase in price but a regulatory safeguard
\nput in place by the telecommunications regulator to check anti-competitive
\npractices by dominant operators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis statement clarifies the insinuation in some quarters that the
\nregulator has fixed prices for data services. This is not true because the
\nNCC does not fix prices but provides regulatory guidelines to protect the
\nconsumers, deepen investments and safeguard the industry from imminent
\ncollapse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the new suspended price floor of N0.90k\/MB, the industry average
\nfor dominant operators including MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, EMTS
\nLimited (Etisalat) and Airtel Nigeria Limited was N0.53k\/MB.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEtisalat offered (N0.94k\/MB), Airtel (N0.52k\/MB), MTN (N0.45k\/MB) and
\nGlobacom (N0.21k\/MB).<\/p>\n
The smaller operators\/ new entrants charge the following: Smile
\nCommunications N0.84k\/MB, Spectranet N0.58k\/MB and NATCOMS (NTEL)
\nN0.72k\/MB.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NCC as a responsive agency of government takes into consideration the
\nfeelings of the consumers and so decided to suspend the new price floor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following deluge of criticism and condemnation, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has, Wednesday, suspended its planned data tariff increase. This is following the Senate order to halt the increment as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n