Urge govt to revive state-owned telecom companies to address poor service delivery by privately-owned telcos
Some telecommunication (telecoms) subscribers in the South-South region have called on the federal government to provide alternative networks and revive its own telecoms services for efficient communications in the country.
The subscribers expressed their views while responding to an opinion survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Cross River, Rivers and Akwa Ibom on mitigating high telecoms tariffs.
They also called for sanctions against the defaulting operators in order to check the excesses of some telecoms companies in the course of providing services to customers.
They decried the constant poor network, drop calls, interruptions and the high charges, saying that the more they increase the tariffs, the poorer the services they renderto the subscribers.
For effective and more efficient management of telecommunication services in Nigeria, the subscribers, therefore, called for the nationalisation of network providers.
Speaking in Cross River, Efio-Ita Nyok, an MTN customer in Calabar, described the telecoms company in Nigeria as a capitalist venture allegedly only interested in their profit and not quality service delivery.
Nyok, who is a blogger, decried the recent hike in tariffs by the telecoms companies in Nigeria and wondered why they would be increasing tariffs when they still make a lot of profits even with the old tariffs.
He said MTN Nigeria posted a huge profit sum last year, “a massive return” on investment, stating that there is no justification for the tariff increases as the companies are always making profit.
He expressed his disappointment at the tariff increase without corresponding service improvements, saying that he lost a lot of businesses as his customers were unable to reach him due to an unending poor network connectivity.
“It is just like the service providers increased the tariff and did a downward review in the quality of service they provide to the Nigerian citizens which is adversely affecting the society,” he agonized.
Nyok called for another alternative telecom provider in Nigeria, which would be more reliable as all the existing alternatives were the same in poor quality of service.
He queried the work of the Consumers Protection Agency when the network providers are milking Nigerians dry without commensurate quality of service, describing the situation as sad.
He then called on the federal government to wade into the matter and start the process of nationalising the firms as a path to protecting the interest of the citizenry.
On his part, Mr Frank Ulom, a blogger, also described the situation as sad while narrating how he is now spending between N20, 000 and N30, 000 monthly for the same gigabytes he previously spent N10, 000 on
According to him, it is now difficult for Nigerians to know the data or call cap as they can no longer measure the quantity of data or airtime you pay for.
“The most annoying is the increase in drop calls, break in transmission and the issue of peoples’ voices breaking off during a conversation; this is common with all the networks in Nigeria.
“I have reduced the rate at which I recharge my lines because, sometimes, I just feel it is useless but when I do, I spread it among all the networks I have so that I can switch between them when the network is poor,” he said.
Speaking in Rivers, Emmanuel John, a Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA ) Port Harcourt Branch, called on the federal government to provide alternative telecommunication network services or revive Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).
According to him, it’s sad that almost all the networks in the telecommunications sector are not effectively serving the purpose for which they were established.
John, however, said that reviving NITEL would create more jobs, empower youths and alleviate the suffering of the people.
He stated that all Nigerians experience drop calls even as charges are deducted from each of those drop calls, adding that it gets worse as people cannot communicate effectively.
He cited the advanced countries where only one line is enough for network users to communicate, and said that such could not work in Nigeria as nobody or law penalises defaulting telecommunications companies for poor service delivery.
“I can tell you as I stand with you here, I have five different lines; I have all the networks, yet the networks are not favourable, they can’t even bail you out in emergency situations.
“I sent a message to a client in the morning and the message did not go through till about 4 p.m when the purpose for which the message was sent had been overtaken by event.
“If you have a sick person with health issues, and you want to communicate with your doctor, you find that you can’t get through with the call because of poor network services.
‘’It is really bad; the government should do something about the poor network connections, put in place policies and regulations that will check the companies and penalise the defaulters,’’ he agonized.
The legal practitioner noted that network providers in advanced countries sometimes give back to their subscribers by paying them, offering them new phones just for using their network but in Nigeria, they charge unnecessarily.
According to him, “money is deducted from our network, from our data, yet we don’t have effective service which is too bad; the government has to call them to order.”
‘’It has gotten to that level that class action is needed, we need to take them to court.
“If the government sanctions network providers defaulters, they will no longer increase their tariffs and impose on the public without prior information,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Macdonald Ugwu, a Supervisor at Hardia Onshore, Port Harcourt, opined that the telecoms networks in the country are far from meeting the expectations of the public in service provision.
According to Ugwu, network connections are worst during festivals, and public holidays, making communication between people and their relatives who travelled during the period very difficult.
He said they had disappointed Nigerians hugely, adding, “Sometimes, we hear that there is a lot of traffic and that’s why calls can’t go through, but this is rare in other countries,” he lamented, pointing out that the networks have disappointed Nigerians big time.
“The network providers in this country are busy increasing their tariff not minding the poor network services they give to the public.
“You will be in an online meeting, the network will cut you off from the meeting, that’s a disgrace and embarrassing to the country; there is more room for improvement, we can still get it right,’’ he stressed.
Ugwu, however, re-echoed the call for the government to provide an alternative network for Nigerians to have effective communications.
Also in Akwa Ibom, Mr Eket Edet, a subscriber in Eket, said the hike in telecom tariffs has affected communication habits, making some Nigerians divert to internet-based calls, believing that data is cheaper.
He named the Internet-based apps being used for calls and messaging as WhatsApp, Zoom, Google Meet, and Telegram, and others, explaining that some subscribers also explore public Wi-Fi connections in commercial hubs where customers are allowed to make data-based calls at lower costs.
Edet called on the regulatory authorities to assist in balancing the impact of rising costs, adding that the increase in tariff has influenced choices of the subscribers economically.
According to him, many subscribers now ration their airtime usage by prioritising essential calls over casual conversations while businesses, especially the small and medium enterprises, have adjusted their budgets to accommodate the rising costs.
Edet decried the increase in tariffs, saying poor call quality, echoes in conversations, frequent call drops, and many others should have been addressed before the tariffs hike.
He condemned the interruptions during conversations which lead to increased call repetitions and additional airtime expenditure.
He advised other subscribers who switched networks due to the increase to stop since the tariff hike was done across all providers uniformly.
Edet also added that subscribers are now opting for multiple networks to take advantage of bonuses and cheaper call rates from different service providers.
Also speaking, Mr Etoro-Obong Inyang, telecommunications technician in Uyo, said the recent hike in the tariffs of all categories of services by network providers nationwide has adversely affected subscribers.
He explained that the hike in tariff has not improved the quality of calls, instead subscribers have been grappling with poor services despite the hike.
Inyang frowned at the insensitivity of the telecom providers to the plight of the citizens.
According to him, before now, a recharge card of N100 could take you a day’s call but now, you have to pay double or more for the same call duration.
“Before, N4 was charged for text messages but now it is N6 for messages and N30 is charged for calls per minute,” he lamented.
Mrs Ekaette Otu, a subscriber in Uyo, lamented that the 50 per cent increase in tariff has increased the financial burden of the students who are undergoing online programmes.
“The cost of data increased from N4,000 to N6,500 monthly subscription is high; some subscribers are exploring alternative data plans or switching providers,’’ she observed, noting, however, that the options often come with limitations such as slower speeds and reduced data caps.
Otu said the people would automatically maximise or adjust to reduce frequency duration of their calls to minimize the high costs.
She explained the reduction in call frequency and duration could be attributed to various factors such as changes in user behavior, cost sensitivity and alternative communication method.
She outlined the major network issues faced by subscribers in Nigeria to include very high poor network coverage, call hang-up, slow data speed, unreliable connections, network congestion, high traffic, poor audio or voice call quality.
“There is also poor customer service from telecom operators, making it so difficult to resolve urgent issues promptly.
“A bank transaction for purchase of recharge card and the subscriber will be debited and yet credit will be pending for a week and more without any reverse,” she said.
Otu said most Nigerian subscribers are currently facing these network issues and advised the government to address the recent telecom tariff hikes by providing alternative networks.
She stated that it had been the responsibility of the government to protect consumer interests, especially when it comes to essential services like telecoms.
Otu suggested that the government promote competition among the operators, noting that this could lead to better services and more affordable tariff.
She said that a reliable and affordable telecom infrastructure is crucial for economic development and the government could play a vital role in ensuring the infrastructure is in place for adequate usage.
Another subscriber, Mr Inemesit Akpansoh, also called on the federal government to prevail on operators of telecoms to improve their services and defaulters should be sanctioned by withdrawing their licenses.
