Following the recent government approval of a 40 percent tariff hike in Nigeria’s telecom industry, subscribers—who are known to have long complained about the sector’s quality of service —are demanding a thorough revamp of service delivery. Consumers contend that the years-long struggle with subpar service quality needs to be resolved before any price hikes. Many argue that they are already paying more for inferior services and demand that service providers demonstrate their value by providing improved service delivery for users.
Their concerns, ranging from frequent dropped calls, slow internet speeds, and inadequate network coverage, have plagued the telecom industry. The clamor for better service delivery has gained traction among consumer advocates and industry groups, who argue that a price increase must be accompanied by tangible upgrades in network performance. Industry experts caution that price hikes will simply make consumers more irate if there is no commitment to updating infrastructure. As Nigerians grapple with rising living costs, the possibility of paying more for telecom services has generated a lot of discussions.
Subscribers demand improved service ahead of tariff hike.
Many argue that the current state of the sector does not justify higher price increases and demand that service providers be held to a higher standard of accountability. Critics voiced that the approved pricing increase might put additional strain on Nigerians already struggling with growing living expenses unless immediate action is done. They argue that in order to satisfy customer expectations, telecom operators should put a higher priority on investing to upgrade their Infrastructure and resolving structural problems.
For these subscribers, the message is clear: quality must improve before any tariff hike can be justified. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry watchdog, is expected to make formal declarations and provide clear procedure regarding the pricing change. As people continued to fume and weigh in on the impact of the increase, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, clarified after a stakeholders’ meeting with major operators in Abuja that while an increase is inevitable, it will not reach the initially proposed 100 percent proposed by telecoms operators.
Network challenges and the call for infrastructure improvements.
If the government had approved the telecom operator’s initial proposed hike, subscribers would have seen a drastic increase in pricing. Voice calls would have gone from ₦11.00 to ₦22.00 per minute, while SMS charges would have doubled from ₦4.00 to ₦8.00 per message. For MTN subscribers, the cost of a 1.2GB data bundle would have increased dramatically from ₦1,000 to ₦2,000, while the price of a 20GB data bundle would have moved from ₦5,500 to ₦11,000. Customers of Airtel would have seen 3GB data bundle hike from ₦1,500 to ₦3,000 and 15GB move from ₦4,000 to ₦8,000.
Such a hike would have further burdened Nigerians, who are already struggling with a drop in purchasing power over the past year. One of the main problems affecting network quality is the startling frequency of Fiber-Optic Cable outages, which cost ₦35.4 billion in 2023 alone and impacted both service providers and customers. Stakeholders noted that fixing this problem needs to be paramount as it seriously jeopardizes network stability. The alleged underfunding of network infrastructure is another source of concern.
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According to many customers, telecom companies have not sufficiently invested their earnings back into system improvements, which has resulted in ongoing inefficiencies. As the tariff hike looms, attention has shifted to the NCC, the regulatory body responsible for overseeing the industry. Consumers are keen to see what measures the NCC will implement to ensure that service providers are held accountable for the quality of their offerings. They are also waiting to see if the new Tariffs will translate into better network quality or if they will once again be left bearing the financial burden without the corresponding benefits.