The proposal of a 40 per cent increase in the cost of calls, SMS, and data by the telecommunication companies to the Nigerian Communications Commission as a result of the rising cost of running a business in the nation is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that telecommunication companies are proposing a 40 per cent increase in the cost of calls, SMS, and data to the Nigerian Communications Commission as a result of the rising cost of running a business in the nation.
Based on their proposal, the price floor of calls will increase from N6.4 to N8.95 while the price cap of SMS will increase from N4 to N5.61.
This was revealed in a letter titled, ‘Impact of the Economic and Security Issues on the Telecommunications Sector,’ which was sighted by our correspondent.
The letter was written by the telecommunications companies under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria to the NCC.
They added that the introduction of the recent excise duty of five per cent on telecom services had further increased the burden of multiple taxes and levies on the industry.
The newspaper says that the debt owed to Nigerian banks by operators in the power sector rose by 12.83 per cent in one year to N861.14bn in December 2021 amid the lingering problems plaguing the sector since it was privatised over eight years ago, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria data.
The Punch had reported in July 2020 that the core investors in the distribution companies were looking to restructure the loans advanced to them by banks for the acquisition of the power assets.
In November 2013, the nation’s distribution and generation companies were privatised through the Bureau of Public Enterprises, fetching about $3.2bn for the Federal Government, as the Discos and Gencos were sold for $1.7bn and $1.5bn, respectively.
The Federal Government officially privatised the six successor power generation companies and 11 distribution firms that were unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
The acquisitions by the core investors were financed mostly by debts, a significant portion of which was provided by local banks.
Power generation firms and independent power producers increased their total debt to N522.2bn in December 2021 from N443.37bn in December 2020, according to figures obtained from the CBN.
Transmission and distribution firms owed banks N338.94bn as of December 2021, up from N319.85bn a year earlier.
The Guardian reports that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that collaborative initiatives and efforts of Nigerian and other regional navies have been responsible for the considerable reduction in piracy incidents in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said regional cooperation has played an important role in reducing incidents of piracy in GoG.
According to him, the establishment of the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Collaboration Forum for the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (GOG-MCF/SHADE) has enabled working-level stakeholders from GoG and outside the region to connect and discuss how best to tackle piracy in the area.
He said this has encouraged non-regional stakeholders to step up and initiate effective maritime law enforcement operations to support the efforts. Jamoh said that “it is noteworthy that the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has removed Nigeria from the global piracy list” owing to the recent efforts.
He said while achieving this feat is tough, sustaining the status, which is the goal of the agency, will be more challenging.
“To this end, NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy in partnership with the Inter-Regional Coordination Centre (ICC) have concluded arrangements to host the fifth plenary of the GOG-MCF/SHADE,” he said.
The plenary, which is scheduled to take place in the Federal Capital Territory from May 10 to 11 has ‘Enduring and Sustainable Security’ as its theme with all regional navies and other stakeholders expected to attend.
The newspaper says that the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday, arrived in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital as part of his two-day official visit to Nigeria.
He began the visit in Borno, where the country has been struggling in its fight against Islamist militants.
Guterres is billed to interface with his host, Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, and also interact with surrendered fighters and families affected by the Boko Haram conflict ravaging the region for more than 12 years.
The UN Secretary-General will round off his visit with a joint media briefing at Government House Maiduguri, with Governor Zulum later in the day.
This is the first official visit of the ninth Secretary-General to Nigeria. Guterres had earlier visited Niger Republic and Senegal.
The United Nations information centre in Nigeria said the Secretary General would also evaluate the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities and assess progress made as well as challenges to the COVID-19 recovery.
Guterres will then head to Nigeria’s capital to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other top cabinet officials.
In Abuja, Guterres is expected to officiate a wreath-laying ceremony for victims of the 2011 bombing at the U.N. House and will then meet with young people’s delegates, women, religious leaders and diplomatic communities and journalists.
The Nation says that following the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) directive of April 4, 2022 that operators should restrict outgoing calls for subscribers whose Subscribers Identity Modules (SIMs) were not linked with their National Identity Numbers (NINs), it has implemented the directive on 19 million of its affected subscribers, MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola, has said.
However, subscribers whose outgoing calls were restricted for non-submission of their NINs require their NINs to be verified before being reactivated.
He said: “As at 25 April 2022, about 8.7 million of those restricted submitted their NINs for verification, of which approximately 1.2 million have been reactivated, many of whom are high-value customers. Outgoing voice revenue from the subscribers who are yet to be reactivated therefore contributed approximately 7.8 per cent of total service revenue based on FY 2021.
“We have seen a drop off in traffic following our compliance with the directive. However, we have started to see a gradual recovery as the affected subscribers are reconnected to resume voice calls. Data revenue has continued a steady increase but has currently not fully compensated for the decline in voice revenue of restricted subscribers. Encouragingly, we have seen an acceleration in new connections.
“As MTN Nigeria, we continue to engage our affected subscribers while providing hardware support for the National Identity Management Commission to accelerate the verification of NINs submitted. We have taken significant steps to help drive NIN enrolment for subscribers who do not yet have a NIN, deploying over 4,200 points of enrolment across the country. We have also provided multiple channels to enable our customers to submit their NIN for verification and linkage,” the carrier said.
MTN Group reached a milestone in its efforts to broaden its local shareholder base, as 139,000 retail investors picked up company stocks in the last quarter ended March.
GIK/APA