I'm not understanding..... 😣😣😣

I cannor cry o,winch kinda kwantiri is this wan for Gods sake wen u see light u hear..'up NEPA'

Ahmed0336:
I am not understanding

U NO SOMETHING ABOUT NORTHERN POLITICIANS, WEN DEY WANT 2 LIE, DEY STARTING SAYING SO MANY GRAMMARS N SOUNDING LIKE ANGELS. BUT IN REALITY DEY R DEMONS.

#AdebayoShittuOut

NDA, abeg make una continue d bombing cos e don reach 1 week now I no hear dem bomb any pipeline. And for their supporters, make una dey pray hard for them well well until that man wey una hate no get money to buy recharge card again. Maybe na so we too go be like amelica.

timbros:
This man keep referring to the days of NITEL. How many operators were in existence then?

I still don't get it. So NCC is more interested in the protection of the so called smaller operators than the over 170 million consumers nationwide?

This is absolutely disgusting.

Me sef dey wonder

This kain foolish reason how can they be so daft?

candy:
Is it our fault that the government has failed to provide favorable operating conditions for telecos? If the operators, despite the harsh operating conditions are willing to sell below 0.90k, why will NCC discourage them from doing so?

Are the consumers themselves not already overburdened with tax, lack of stable electricity, delayed/unpaid salaries? Who now protects us, if NCC protects the smaller operators by allowing a benchmark price of 0.90k, even when the likes of Airtel are willing to go as low as 0.46k?

Are the new/smaller operators they seek to protect not aware of these harsh economic realities before choosing to invest here? I think they should instead look for heavy investors to help them compete with the big guns in the industry.

I still don't see NCC's point. Let the market dictate the price!

Smaller operators have dropped some dollars into minister and chairman pockets.. they are now here ranting rub ish... instead of NCC to fix a benchmark on the sort of investors that are needed in the cpmmunication sector, they here talking thrash,, if your small or broke, why should you invest in communication sef?? Pur leaders are our problem in this country, no vision... other countries they would have asked the small operators to merge and form a big coy so as to compete with the larger ones, instead A lawyer a d electrical engineer are out there telling us thrash.... I cant wait to get up there mehn, all this men must sleep for kirikiri

...Just imagine the creepy/D.AFT excuse this demon is using to justify increase!
This d.amn country is long overdue for a RED revolution!!
Nig. Will not know peace till these senile thieves kiss their graves!!!

any one who is after deliberate attempt to cause or increase the hardship on Nigerians, God please replace them.


amen

FG are useless to us like that oil barren desert in far north... when are we going to start enjoying free internet WiFi networks like Kenya and south Africa.... tomorrow now, one useless EDIOT will say we are giant of Africa

Nutase:
This man has been compromised.
Market forces should be allowed to play out naturally and not be manipulated. A price war is very healthy for the consumers especially when there is no single dominant player (note that we have 4 dominant players and none of them have ever declared that they are operating at a loss).
If the barriers to entry are not to the small players favours why did they enter the market? I believe these small companies he is referring to are owned by some top government officials.
The truth remains that these Telecom's companies would never have slashed data prices if it would have made them run at a loss.
If NCC are allowed to increase data price based on this frivolous excuse that cost of business is high in Nigeria very soon CBN will tell banks that run generator sets 24/7 to increase charges based on the same excuse.

The senators are already sounding compromised.

I weep for my country.

The Chairman of Board of Ntel is Gen. TY Danjuma and that says a lot.

It's all about government officials, their cabals and their companies.

I think the heading is wrong. It should read NCC chairman and not the Minister of Communication because I didn't see where the minister was referenced except the 1st paragraph and that didn't hold water.

The body of the article contained quotes from the NCC chairman - Dambatata, which were picked when he appeared before the senate committee on communications to explain the sudden hike in data price.

My take on this: I pray it falls through.

SycophanticGoat:


With style or he's now a full blown waiver? When people (Shi'ites and IPOB) were massacred by NA, when Buhari disobeyed Court orders, when Buhari started increasing prices of one thing or another, when Buhari was goofing here and there, when he took more than 6months to select cabinet members and even ensured his nepotism status comes to play, when Buhari's men were characterized with trial and error, and policy summasult, when Buhari was shielding criminals in his cabinet, he and his ilks were busy hailing Buhari. Now, just because NCC want to increase ordinary data, he's wailing more than the wailers?

don't worry,i can boldly tell you that they're planning more hardships, toll gates loading.. Nigerians deserve the type of leaders they get.

candy:
Is it our fault that the government has failed to provide favorable operating conditions for telecos? If the operators, despite the harsh operating conditions are willing to sell below 0.90k, why will NCC discourage them from doing so?

Are the consumers themselves not already overburdened with tax, lack of stable electricity, delayed/unpaid salaries? Who now protects us, if NCC protects the smaller operators by allowing a benchmark price of 0.90k, even when the likes of Airtel are willing to go as low as 0.46k?

Are the new/smaller operators they seek to protect not aware of these harsh economic realities before choosing to invest here? I think they should instead look for heavy investors to help them compete with the big guns in the industry.

I still don't see NCC's point. Let the market dictate the price!

who are the owners of the small firms. is it not the same politicians. they plan to increase it so that they will continue to exploit the poor nigerian masses.

I must decor with a blank stare... This policy is anti-people! it doesn't add up at all especially considering the already existing hardship in the land. The government dont really have business in doung business, just make your country attractive for investors by providing the fundamental of amenities needed to sustain investments. You call it monopoly but in reality, its called enterprise.

Emekamex:
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it intervened with an interim price floor for data services to avert a looming price war in the telecommunications sector.
But the Communications Minister Adebayo Shittu has asked Nigerians to brace for a price rise.
The regulatory commission said it feared that the price war could eventually lead to a monopoly in the telecom industry that would force small operators to shut down.
It said that monopoly in the telecom sector could also push the country back to the days of NITEL – the troubled governenmt-owned telco – to the detriment of small operators.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman Prof. Umar Dambatta stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Communications.
The committee was mandated to investigate the proposed data tariff hike said to have been ordered by the NCC.
Committee Vice Chairman Senator Solomon Adeola, who presided, noted that there was a public outcry over the proposed increase.
Sen. Adeola said Nigerians were united in their opposition to the proposed increase.
He said the position of Nigerians was that a tariff hike was ill- advised, especially with the biting economic situation.
Dambatta told the committee that the NCC’s intervention was not designed to undermine consumers.
He noted that if cheap prices were introduced, they may end up undermining the telecom service operators.
He said if the situation arose where the operators could no longer cope, the consequences could be better imagined.
Dambatta said the need to avert a crisis in the industry informed the decision to introduce interim price floor for data services at N0.90k per BM.
He said: “We wanted to protect the Nigerian consumer from unhealthy price war in what may lead to a monopoly that may lead us to the days of NITEL. We did not increase any price but merely provided a regulatory standard to protect small telecom operators.”
Dambatta said there were some telecom operators that lacked the capacity to compete with the big operators.
He said the N0.90k price floor for purchase of data was a benchmark below which no operator could sell.
“We said in the interim directive measure that no operator should sell below 90k per megabite. There was a price war in the market; that was why we issued the interim directive.
“A situation where a dominant operator provides services far below what is obtainable in the sector in order to attract more customers may lead to a situation where smaller operators will be forced to shut down,” he said.
Dambatta, who said there was a mix up of the interim directive, noted that instead of increase, the NCC wanted reduction in price of tariff to create a balance between big and small operators.
He said the NCC did not set any price ceiling but provided a price law.
Dambatta added, “ We stepped in when we noticed a price war in the sector. The price war was already reaching undesirable level that we had to step in to prevent a monopoly like the days of NITEL.”
The interim floor price, he said, has been suspended temporarily to allow for further consultations.
Dambatta said the NCC would conduct extensive research to come up with a price floor that would be acceptable to Nigerians.
The Minister said the reality was that telecom service providers are operating in an unfriendly business environment, including lack of electricity and increasing security challenges.
He said: “This is one area that I believe that we all must face the reality… If you look at the NCC law, it is positioned to reflect experiences, expertise and all of that and I want to believe that there must not be too many interventions in the activities of the NCC.
“I am a political office holder. I am not an expert, so I cannot venture to say whether they did wrong or right, except they say that the constitution has granted them the role of a supervisor of a direct regulatory authorities, particularly relating to the activities in the telecoms industry.
“The only area I feel they were deficient was in the area of communicating with the people of this country, particularly because of the sensitivity that has been imposed on Nigerians by the harsh economic situation.
“I know that if you want to make omelet you must break eggs. Unfortunately in this country, we fail to appreciate the transformation role that ICT has brought about in the lives of Nigerians.
“I keep saying this, and I have no apology in saying this, before 1999, GSM lines in Nigeria were less than 500,000. Today, we have well over N152 million lines. All the hustles that Nigerians were going through before the exponential development of ICT are no more with us.
“It is also important to say that operators in Nigeria are operating on a very harsh situation, which is not known in other advanced countries. For instance, over the years, the Nigerian state has not succeeded in fixing electricity over the last 20 years.
“This industry’s reliance on electricity and because Nigeria has failed in providing reliable electricity, it means they have to rely on extra budgetary provisions to provide electricity 24 hours, seven days of the week, which additional expenditure does not operate in other countries which we seek to copy. This is one challenge that we must look at.
“The other challenges in the area of security; a lot of infrastructure by operators are usually under coma by criminals all across the country. Indeed we know what the security situation is in the country. Apart from that we also have the problem of taxes which they have always be talking about. I have always challenged operators that I want to see all the taxes so that we find a way of harmonising them.
“What I am saying is this, if Nigeria has invited international investors to come and invest in Nigeria so that our lives will be better, so that the economy will be better, so that businesses can be more conveniently made, so that even government can run more conveniently, to whom much is given, much is expected.
“The Nigerian state must also be in a position to provide its own share to make an enabling environment operate properly.
“So, I am not supporting at this stage or not supporting the price increase with regards to the floor. But what I am saying is, these are technical issues whose decision must be taken having regard to all the factors that are important before a decision can be taken.
“I am appealing to the distinguished senate in intervening, they should try to encourage NCC to be the best that it can, they should try to assist us (NCC) in the area of holding the balance between the interest of operators and the interest of the Nigerian masses so that we can be seen to be providing the best.”
MTN CEO Mr. Ferdinand Moolman, who was also at the hearing, said that the industry had been operating without data floor since 2015.
He underscored MTN’s commitment to ICT development in the country.
The MTN boss also stressed the need for a long time overview of the industry.
He was emphatic that the industry needed to be health to continue to grow.
Moolman said: “MTN remains unrelentingly committed to the sustained provision of affordable and accessible voice and data services in accordance with the National ICT and Broadband plan. In line with this commitment and to continue the provision of high speed data services to its esteemed customers, MTN recently bid for, and acquired the 2.6GHz LTE spectrum at the cost of US$96million.MTN also launched 4G LTE services, enabling faster access to digital platforms and igniting socio-economic development with a multiplier effect on the economy.

http://thenationonlineng.net/minister-advises-nigerians-brace-telecom-data-price-increase

Even Adebayo Shittu and Senator Adeola Yayi don't have sense

Telecom companies complaining of insecurity. So dem dey robb una office ba? Or haven't y'all been taking advantage of it too? These companies are frauds for all I know. Mtn never return my 3g data since they stopped der 2500 night plan. Guess they haven't transferred me to der technical dept like they always say. So instead of them monopolizing d industry, the masses shld pay more ba? Ogun kill una

echelons:


The Chairman of Board of Ntel is Gen. TY Danjuma and that says a lot.

It's all about government officials, their cabals and their companies.

thank you for exposing that.

Justdulla:

Smaller operators have dropped some dollars into minister and chairman pockets.. they are now here ranting rub ish... instead of NCC to fix a benchmark on the sort of investors that are needed in the cpmmunication sector, they here talking thrash,, if your small or broke, why should you invest in communication sef?? Pur leaders are our problem in this country, no vision... other countries they would have asked the small operators to merge and form a big coy so as to compete with the larger ones, instead A lawyer a d electrical engineer are out there telling us thrash.... I cant wait to get up there mehn, all this men must sleep for kirikiri

The small operators supposed to know that competition in the telecom market will keep increasing and they ought to have come out with cordial plans to expand their coverage, review their data price and improve their network quality.

It is not GSM operators fault to launch LTE networks because they want revenue increase but how does the small telecom operator view the idea? They feel... oh these people will snatch our customers. If someone is already admitting failure, such person is a coward and that's what they are.

If they can't cope with the competition, it's either they merge or leave the country abeg.

The govt with their anti people policies-making life more difficult for the people.

I'm sure the so called minister and other big shots in NCC have no clue what data used for apart from what's app and Facebook. Clueless "leaders"!
Back in the days, MTN said it is practically IMPOSSIBLE to make calls below 60 bucks, what happened afterwards?
Some companies that cited harsh economic climate closed business in naija and relocated to other countries. What are these telecoy's waiting for?
What I find annoying is the fact that we are taking for a fool here as if we are not even better enlightened than most of these opportunists.

zombies una don see una life. we warned u guys. dis man is an illiterate.
a president who is willing to take his nation backwards by suppressing information

Without apology I think NCC opinion and reason for the price hike is retarded and uncalled for.

Cindy already said it all up their.

candy:
Is it our fault that the government has failed to provide favorable operating conditions for telecos? If the operators, despite the harsh operating conditions are willing to sell below 0.90k, why will NCC discourage them from doing so?

Are the consumers themselves not already overburdened with tax, lack of stable electricity, delayed/unpaid salaries? Who now protects us, if NCC protects the smaller operators by allowing a benchmark price of 0.90k, even when the likes of Airtel are willing to go as low as 0.46k?

Are the new/smaller operators they seek to protect not aware of these harsh economic realities before choosing to invest here? I think they should instead look for heavy investors to help them compete with the big guns in the industry.

I still don't see NCC's point. Let the market dictate the price!

if those new/small operators can't merge and compete with the Giants thy should please get out. it's not by force to compete afterall they knew how the operating environment was, they thought they could hold us to ransom with their 4G services, the GSM Companies have stepped up their game and now they are shouting foul.
Dem never see something, we are just getting started.

They keep increasing utilities, while everyone's salary remains stagnant, dormant after they will tell us to quit MMM which is another stream of income in this EVIL HARSH NIGERIAN ECONOMY.

So this stupid plan is still cooking right? That was how Nigerians broke the egg of increased electricity tariff but stable electricity omelette never came.
When they were awarding licenses to the big telecos for 4G spectrum the other day, they never thought of the repercussions in their utter stupidity. MTN and co are already established with calls and 3g internet where they make their profit. Had they left them with that, while the newer entrants dominated the 4G sphere, perhaps there would have been some price balancing. Take for example, Glo offers the same price for 3G and 4G internet. Who does that? You want quality internet, you are supposed to have to pay more. Now they want us paying even more for internet we don't even enjoy smoothly. Bunch of clueless idiots. The moment Buhari decided to campaign for presidential election will be the greatest nightmare for Nigerians in a long time to come.

Like soyinka, I think I will also hold a funeral for the death of common sense in Nigeria.
How people reason in this country is shocking.

Lower prices is the result of competition in any market. Which is what we are experiencing, so why would anyone want to interveve?

The rationale behind this is very clear. Some people in gov have interests in one small operator, and they are doing this for personal interests.

The reason given is enough for immediate sack of the entire NCC top management.

Let us wait and see what the National Assembly will say to all the NONSENSE the NCC Chairman told them.

Must we suffer at the expense of the small players? Was the NCC meant to protect the service providers or consumers? Oh God, we need you. Help us, for the leaders you gave us are suffocating us.

Nonsens government oder countries dey give their citizens free internet connection dis ones wan dey increase dere own..

Xano:
To an extent, I understand the Minister's explanation. The issue of electricity is the main challenge for Telecom Companies. Daily usage of Diesel generators are quite expensive, erodes on their profit, affect staff welfare to some extent, delays their infrastructure upgrade,etc.

But Honorable Minister knows the issue of Electricity is the Government's responsibility.

They should promote Nigeria.

Make Nigeria attractive to investors.

Stop incitement and lies which they've been doing. You don't, use mouth to, among others incite, aggravate, spread lies, then, use the mouth to try and promote a country; your audience know the truth.

Government should involve seasoned professionals, give them liberty to help; not via nepotism or tribal or religious means.

If they(Government) choose not to be better, decide to increase price of mobile data, in addition to other increase of basic amenities, security issue would be their top priority.

Most isps now have their equipments in colocated sites. Where their host bothers about power, their hosts are mainly big telcos. All they do is pay their host rent. Let the market forces determine the price. There is more to the data increase they are not telling us.