THE PRIVATE Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to reconsider its stance against the proposed 50 per cent tariff increase.
PTECSSAN made this appeal in a letter addressed to the Nigeria Labour Congress, signed by its General Secretary, Okonu Abdullahi.
In the letter, which was sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday, the association appealed to the NLC to rescind its decision to embark on protests and demonstrations against the proposed tariff increase.
It said that the tariff increase was the only way to prevent the collapse of the sector.
“If the sector is allowed to collapse, other sectors, including finance and security, will be affected,” PTECSSAN said
PTECSSAN said that the sector had, hitherto, been burdened by rising operational costs.
“The removal of fuel subsidy by the government has led to an exponential increase in the prices of petroleum products, thereby increasing the cost of maintaining telecommunications sites across the country.
“The price of Automated Gas Oil used in powering base stations rose from N842.25 to N1,441.28 between May 29, 2023, and Jan. 27, 2025.
“Similarly, the price of Premium Motor Spirit used to fuel field engineers’ cars increased from N198 to N1,030 and higher within the same period.
“Furthermore, the introduction of a floating exchange rate policy has increased the cost of importing equipment needed to maintain and upgrade telecommunications infrastructure,” PTECSSAN said.
The association noted further that the Naira had depreciated from N460 to N1,700 to the dollar, making it more expensive for telecommunications operators to import equipment.
It emphasised that the high cost of running telecommunications sites had been exacerbated by the introduction of a new electricity tariff with different bands.
It said that telecommunications operators, under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), had been warning about the impending collapse of the sector, if the government failed to approve the tariff increase.
PTECSSAN noted that one of the chief executive officers in the sector had also likened the current situation in the sector to that of a patient on life support.
The association also pointed out that the proposed tariff increase would enable telecommunications operators to increase the salaries of their workers, which had been stagnant due to the increasing cost of operations.
It said that while public sector and other private sector workers had benefitted from upward review of salaries due to the new minimum wage law, telecommunications workers had not been so fortunate.
“Some telecommunications operators have started considering service shedding across the country to break even, which would affect other sectors, including finance and security.
“We, therefore, appeal to the NLC to rescind its decision to embark on protests and demonstrations against the proposed tariff increase, as this is the only way to prevent the collapse of the sector,” PTECSSAN said. (NAN)
