Data pricing and cost of production are two conflicting issues in telecommunications service offerings that need to be addressed through collaboration between the federal government and the telecoms regulator.
The dust raised as a result of the recent directive given by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami that the telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), should within a space of five days, reduce the cost of data, is yet to settle. Although NCC has begun implementation of the directive, telecoms operators, under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), are kicking against the directive. They explaining that such directive is not only harsh and inimical to telecoms growth, but also impossible to implement, except the minister is able to address the differences between data reduction and cost of production in the telecoms industry.
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