The national president, Na?tional Association of Tele?communications Subscrib?ers (NATCOMS), Adeolu Ogunbanjo, said that his group plans to file a class-action lawsuit if the telecom operators proceed with the hike without first exploring alterna?tive revenue-generating methods.

According to a statement issued by NATCOMS?s president, he criti?cised the proposed 100 per cent tariff hike as excessive and unsustainable, urging the Nigerian Communica?tions Commission to deny the oper?ators? request.

?Initially, we were looking at a marginal increase of five per cent to 10 per cent. Then the NCC con?sidered a 40 per cent increase. Now, telcos are proposing 100 per cent, and we are saying no,? Ogunbanjo.

The proposed tariff hike would raise the cost of a voice call from N11.00 to N22.00 per minute, an SMS from N4.00 to N8.00 per message, and a 1GB data bundle from N1,000 to N2,000.

The NCC is currently reviewing the proposal and has not yet made a final decision.

Ogunbanjo warned that NAT?COMS was ready to challenge any approval in court, stating, ?This is a sector of national interest, and we will not hesitate to seek legal redress to protect subscribers? rights.?

The NATCOMS president sug?gested that telecom operators ex?plore the capital market as an alter?native to raising tariffs.

?They can go to the Nigerian Stock Exchange to raise funds. Nige?rians will buy their shares, and I am confident it will be oversubscribed. MTN has already done this success?fully; other operators like Glo and Airtel should follow suit,? he added.

Ogunbanjo acknowledged the financial pressures faced by telcos, including inflation and rising opera?tional costs. However, he emphasised that subscribers should not bear the brunt of these challenges without first exploring other viable funding options.

?If the operators cannot meet their financial needs after raising funds through the stock exchange, they can return to the table for dis?cussions,? he said.

The consumer group argued that the proposed hike would dispropor?tionately affect low-income subscrib?ers and could hinder access to essen?tial communication services.

Recall that, Karl Toriola, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria had recently said that telcos had formal?ly submitted requests to the NCC for the 100 per cent tariff hike.

?We?ve put forward requests of approximately 100 per cent tariff increases to regulators. I doubt they?re going to approve that quan?tum of increases because they are very, very sensitive to the current economic situation in the country,? Toriola said (Daily Independent)

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