The inability of licensees in the telecommunications sector to pay their respective levies, including staff salaries has become a source of worry to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
NCC made this known in Lagos, yesterday, at the beginning of the two-day ‘Talk to the Regulator’ forum is organised.
The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the forum, was one of the most important events in the yearly stakeholder engagement diary of the commission because it provides the regulator with a unique opportunity to engage with licensees in a collaborative atmosphere which, in turn, “enables us to jointly examine issues that are negatively affecting license compliance and industry growth.”
“Several licensees are struggling to pay their staff, many are unable to comply with basic licence obligations, several are defaulting in the payment of their Annual Operating Levies (AOL), and the level of interconnect and other inter- licensee indebtedness is still unacceptably high,” he said.
Checks showed that AOL is 2.5 per cent of the yearly turnover of operators, which are expected to be remitted to the NCC, while interconnect debts hover between N70 billion and N100 billion, with MTN being owed the largest of the sum.
The EVC, who assured that the NCC Board and Management are fully committed to making necessary adjustments where possible, said the industry can only achieve the national interest objectives set out in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) and other policy instruments if most (if not all) of licensees are operating at optimal strength.
“We are therefore keenly aware of the need to listen to our licensees and address any concerns that may impede the attainment of the relevant policy objectives,” he stated.
According to him, the Commission has, however, never taken these powers for granted. “Over the years, we have consistently deployed stakeholder engagement tools like public enquiries, private investigations, written information requests, one-on-one discussions and diverse Consumer engagement platforms. These tools enable us to ensure that our interventions are well-grounded and that our decisions are based on a clear understanding of stakeholder perspectives.”
MEANWHILE, some of the Value Added Service (VAS) providers at the event decried high charges by mobile network operators (MNOs) and called on the NCC to urgently intervene.
At a forum in late 2019, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, had called for a downward review of the AOL.
Specifically, Adebayo said that there was the need for a downward review of the AOL as the increasing usage of Over-The-Top (OTT) services by telecommunications customers was adversely impacting on revenue of the operators.
According to him, the 2.5 per cent is being deducted from the operator’s turnover, which he described as not fair enough.
“For example, let me say you sell N1 million, then you remove your expenses, you remove your tax, then you take your profit from it.
“This is because for you to achieve this N1 million, you have spent certain money, so, I feel you should actually take out your expenses before they apply the 2.5 per cent.
“So, what it then means is that the 2.5 per cent is actually additional expenses on the operators. It is high because it is 2.5 per cent of annual turnover, not 2.5 per cent of profits. They need to consider a downward review, one per cent will be fair,” he said.
The ALTON chairman said that telecommunications companies were losing money, hence, the urgent action to save them from further loss, due to activities of OTT providers who do not invest in infrastructure.
Source: Guardian
