Nigeria’s National Association of Telecommunication Subscribers (NATCOMS) believes the recent interconnect rates method as agreed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is a rip-off strategy against telecoms subscribers in the country, writes the Lagos publication the Independent.
NATCOMS argues that the interconnect rates deal is not supporting subscribers interest as claimed by NCC, but instead it promotes a false price control move when, in reality, subscribers are still at the mercy of telecom operators.
NCC has promoted a drop in call rates from N10,20k to N8,20K in 2012, effecting from January 2010, explaining that subscribers can benefit from reduced tariffs up to 50% in the long run, as low as N15 per minute. SMS rates were said to lower from N1,94, end of last year, to N1,02k from December 2012 onwards.
As a result, NATCOMS now asks for a real reduction in tariff charged by telecom operators per price cap to N30 or N25 in favour of Nigerias. President of the associations, Deolu Ogunbawo, said avoiding the “arithmetics” will benefit Nigerians and set definitive on-net and off-net call rates irrespective of the network involved.
He concluded that NCC’s latest drop of call rate, at N11,55k still hasn’t influenced operators to charge less for on and off calls, as expected. In addition to that, Ogunbawo tells that present Chief Executive Officer of NCC and the Vice Chairman of NCC, Earnest Ndukwe, de to leave office next month, shouldn’t establish future rates up to 2012 on behalf of his successor, without taking into account next years government policies concerning ICT sector.
