How much you go pay now for data and calls in Nigeria after government approve 50% tariff hike for telcos?

As di Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC announce say dem don approve a 50% tariff hike for telecommunications companies in di kontri, di question wey dey ground now na how dis increment go impact Nigerians.

Dis development mean say definitely, di money to make calls and buy internet bundles go increase across all di telecommunication companies.

For instance, if di price of one-minute call bifor na 10 naira, now e fit be 15 naira, and if di price of one gigabyte of data na N1000, e fit increase to N1,500.

Dis dey come as pipo for Nigeria still dey struggle wit rising inflation and a cost of living wey don dey shoot above di roof.

Di inflation rate for Nigeria stand at 34.80% in December 2024 and Nigerians bin don face increases in fuel price and electricity tariff among oda price hikes.

For dia statement on Monday, di NCC - wey be di body wey dey regulate telecommunication for Nigeria - say dem recognize di pressure wey pipo and businesses dey go thru, and dem no happy to do dis increment, but dem no fit escape am and e go help greater coverage by network providers.

So how much exactly go be di new cost of calls per minute and data per gigabyte for Nigeria? And wen dis new price increment go take effect?

How many minutes call N100 airtime go give you now?

Nigeria get four major telecommunications company wey dey provide call and internet services to millions of dia customers. Di companies na MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9Mobile.

According to di NCC, dis telecom operators bin ask for a 100% increase in tariff, but na only 50% goment approve for dem.

Normally, di cost of call per minute dey depend on which subscription package di customer choose.

For instance, MTN voice package for local calls include Pulse, Beta Talk, True Talk, Awuf4U and Extra Special.

Bifor now, MTN dey charge Pulse subscribers N24.30 for di first 90 seconds call of di day, and afta dat di charge go be 11.26 kobo per second or N6.75 per minute.

Dis mean say for di old tariff, N100 airtime go reach pesin to make call for 14.8 minutes wit MTN pulse, but wit dis new 50% increment, na only about 7.4 minutes call di pesin fit get.

Di calculation na almost di same tin on top all di major operators for di telecoms industry.

Similarly, di price of 50 megabytes of internet data ontop Glo Mobile, for instance, go now fit increase from N50 to N75, while 3.9 gigabytes wey pesin fit buy wit N1000 bifor, from now fit be N1,500.

Also, Short Message Services (SMS) wey be four naira bifor across board, fit now increase to six naira.

One senior staff of 9Mobile wey speak to BBC Pidgin on top dis matter say di company go soon inform dia customers publicly on wetin go be di exact cost of calls and data once dem finalise dia calculations.

Current rate of calls bifor di 50% hike of top telcos

Increment dey inevitable - Minister

Di digital communication and telecommunication sector na one of di ogbonge revenue generator for di Nigeria economy and e dey contribute about 16% to di Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of di kontri as at last quarter of 2024.

Bosun Tijani, di Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, tok say dem wey be sabi pipo for di industry appreciate how important di sector dey to ordinary Nigerians, and dat na why im no gree approve 100% increment wey di telecoms operators bin dey ask for.

"I know say many Nigerians go first buy airtime bifor dem even buy food... but e dey important for us to keep dis sector alive, we no go fit allow am to crash," oga Tijani tok for interview wit Channels TV.

"E dey important to us say our pipo go continue to dey access minimum connectivity - wey be minimum of 25mbps (megabits per second) in di urban area and 10mbs for di rural areas."

Oga Tijani tok say e don reach six years since di telecommunication companies dey agitate for tariff increase, but even though goment want di telecoms industries to continue to dey invest in di economy and get returns on dia investments, goment also need to consider di impact of too high tariff on di citizens.

Also, for di statement wey NCC bin issue on Monday, dem explain say tariff rates neva change since 2013, despite di increasing cost of operation wey telecoms operators dey face.

Wen di increment go take effect?

E neva dey clear wen dis new increment go take effect as di NCC no tok am for dia statement.

BBC Pidgin don also reach out to di tok-tok pesins of MTN and Airtel but dem neva respond.

Checks on di social media handles of some of di telecoms companies also show say dem neva pass any information concerning di increase and wen e go start.

A senior management staff of one of the telcos, however, tell our tori pesin say "once di regulator don announce di approval, di policy don take immediate effect. E now dey di hand of individual companies to decide wen dem go roll out and inform dia customers appropriately".

Dis pesin wey say make we no mention im name tok say dia work now as operators na to make sure say di customers get quality service for wetin dem dey pay for.

NCC tok say "operators dey required to educate and inform di public about di new rates", wey mean say dem dey obligated to tell dia customers bifor di new tariff go start.

Civil society threaten to sue

Meanwhile, one civil society group for Nigeria wey dia name na Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), don tell di Federal Goment to reverse di 50% telecommunication tariff increment within 48 hours or dem go cary dem go court.

Di group talk say di increment dey "unlawful" and e go against di rights of Nigerians to access communication wey dey guaranteed for di international human rights standard.

"We go see for court if di 50% tariff hike no dey reversed within 48 hours," di group talk on top dia X handle on Tuesday.