There are clear indicators that the country’s telecommunications operators, or telcos, plan to raise voice and data rates by up to 40%.
According to reliable sources from the operators who confirmed the plans to Vanguard, it was due to the high cost of diesel to operate their businesses, as well as constant harassments and frivolous taxes and levies imposed on them by various agencies from the three tiers of government.
The telcos who spoke to reporters about the issue said it is being handled by their umbrella organization, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, ALTON.
Voice calls, short message services, SMS, and data services will be affected if the proposal is approved.
It means that the telcos want to raise the current average 11k per second, N8.95 per minute cost of voice calls to N12.53, while short message services will rise from N4.00 to N5. 61.
