{"id":60436,"date":"2025-02-04T09:28:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T09:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=60436"},"modified":"2025-02-04T09:28:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T09:28:50","slug":"telecom-operators-reject-nlcs-demand-for-tariff-reduction-justify-50-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/02\/04\/telecom-operators-reject-nlcs-demand-for-tariff-reduction-justify-50-hike\/","title":{"rendered":"Telecom Operators Reject NLC\u2019s Demand for Tariff Reduction, Justify 50% Hike"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Emmanuel Ogbodo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have rejected calls from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to negotiate a reduction in the recent 50% tariff increase, insisting the hike is necessary for the industry&#8217;s sustainability amid rising operational costs.<\/p>\n<p>The NLC, opposing the adjustment, has demanded a rollback to 5% and threatened a nationwide protest on Tuesday, February 4, if its demands are not met.<\/p>\n<p>The union described the increase as \u201cinsensitive and unjustifiable,\u201d warning it would further strain Nigerian consumers.<\/p>\n<p>At a weekend forum in Lagos, representatives from the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and major telecom firms, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, and 9mobile, defended the hike.<\/p>\n<p>ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo likened the increase to a \u201clifeline\u201d for the industry, arguing that anything lower would cripple operations.<\/p>\n<p>MTN Nigeria\u2019s Chief Corporate Services &amp; Sustainability Officer, Tobechukwu Okigbo, clarified that operators do not engage directly with the NLC, as ALTON manages industry-wide negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Airtel Nigeria\u2019s Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, Femi Adeniran, added that discussions with labour unions fall under the purview of government agencies and ALTON.<\/p>\n<p>The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which approved the tariff adjustment on January 20, 2025, defended the move, citing inflation, foreign exchange volatility, and rising energy costs.<\/p>\n<p>The commission emphasized that the decision aligns with its mandate under the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, to ensure telecom sector viability.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these justifications, the NLC remains firm in its opposition. Union President Joe Ajaero reiterated the demand for a significant reduction, warning of nationwide protests if the hike is not reversed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Emmanuel Ogbodo Nigeria\u2019s Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have rejected calls from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to negotiate a reduction in the recent 50% tariff increase, insisting the hike is necessary for the industry&#8217;s sustainability amid rising operational costs. The NLC, opposing the adjustment, has demanded a rollback to 5% and threatened a nationwide [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":60437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-60436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60438,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60436\/revisions\/60438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}