Association of Licensed
Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has decried the
extortion of telecommunications service providers in the country
through indiscrimate levies and charges by the agents of government
both at the states and local governments.
Briefing the media last weekend,
ALTON Chairman, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said the group’s attention has
been drawn by its member companies to several complaints received on
indiscriminate imposition of levies and charges on telecom operators
in their localities.
"Some of our members have
lamented on the practice by some state governments, local governments
and other government agencies in the imposition of indiscriminate
levies and charges on telecommunications operators and their
operations within their localities," he said.
ALTON, he said, views these
developments with serious concerns and as a trend, which if left
unabated, will inevitably reverse the gains and advancement recorded
in the Nigerian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
"With dire consequences on the
country’s socio-economic development and growth," Adebayo said.
He pointed out that operators
are engaged in infrastructure build-out activities that are otherwise
government’s responsibilities and involve huge capital cost, all in
their desire to support government and provide efficient, affordable
telecommunications services and improved quality of life for
Nigerians.
"It is also public knowledge
that operators subscribe to alternative sources of power supply for an
average of 20 hours per day through the use of power generating sets,
a minimum of two units per cell site," he said.
He recollected that in some
localities operators generate their power by 100 per cent.
"In some places generating sets
in fact served through 100 per cent dependency on power generators,
and operators often provide other amenities that includes access roads
to enable it provide services in localities where public
infrastructure are virtually non-existent," he noted.
According to him, these are only
few of the series of associated costs, which on their own are
economically unviable and continues to adversely impact service
delivery and threaten the operational integrity of telecommunications
service providers.
"We are primarily concerned that
the immense efforts of our members at this time to deal with the
challenges of improving quality of service in the industry, by
engaging in massive rollout of equipment and infrastructure, is
currently being undermined by the various arbitrary and indiscriminate
charges, fines and levies at different levels of government," Adebayo
said.
ALTON, he said, believes that
most of these occurrences are ill-motivated and driven by parochial
revenue generation strategies employed by certain elements within the
affected levels of government in the country.
