Adebayo Shittu, communications Minister has
asked Nigerians to brace for a price rise while
making a case for telecom service providers,
which according to the minister were operating
under unfriendly business environment including
lack of electricity and increasing security
challenges.

But the Nigeria Communications Commission
(NCC) said it intervened with an interim price floor
for data services to avert a looming price war in
the telecommunications sector.
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 government-owned telco – to the
detriment of small operators.
Prof. Umar Dambatta, NCC executive vice
chairman 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.
But 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.
“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.