Legacy debts among operators stifle telecoms sector, service delivery

Amid calls by the mobile network operators on deposit money banks to pay up the legacy N200 billion unstructured supplementary service data debts owed them, the telcos, in turn, are sitting on hundreds of millions of naira of unfulfilled commitment to value-added service providers.

VAS refers to services that are not within the scope of core telecommunications services such as voice calls and text messages. The services are either rendered by telecommunications companies or by other companies working with or through telecommunications companies. For other VAS services, MNO gets 50 per cent while VAS aggregator receives 10 per cent while VAS service provider takes 40 per cent. For the lottery, telcos get 24.57 per cent as against aggregator’s 10 per cent and service provider’s 65.25 per cent.

VAS providers are widely regarded as a subsector of the telecommunications industry and they are regulated by the NCC, according to the Nigerian Communications Act and the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1990 . The NCA and WTA empower the NCC to regulate VAS providers and operators in Nigeria. “The funds we are talking about run into hundreds of millions of naira. I may not be able to put a specific figure to it because virtually all the aggregators are suffering from this issue. You can ask other players within the sub-sector; you will be alarmed by more revelations.”

On the challenges VAS players face, an industry analyst, Leo Abulu, urged the NCC to have a complete open-door policy with the VAS players to improve the speed of approvals and the updated terms and conditions of such operations. In the meantime, the Commission has issued a significant number of licences in this category of service, which raised the need to review the market dynamics of the sub-segment to ensure effective competition.

But Adebayo said the payments have largely been made by small banks, while the tier-one operators have refused to pay.

Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

President Federation Cup: Grand finale tickets go for N200, N2,000The Nation Newspaper President Federation Cup: Grand finale tickets go for N200, N2,000
Source: TheNationNews - 🏆 6. / 69 Read more »

NFF sets Federation Cup tickets at N200, N2000 as teams feel official pitch todayFootball fans will have to pay N200 and N2000 to watch tomorrow’s President Federation Cup finals featuring El-Kanemi of Maiduguri and Abia Warriors of Umuahi
Source: GuardianNigeria - 🏆 1. / 94 Read more »

Anambra tipper drivers protest alleged N200,000 extortion by government agentsTipper drivers in Anambra have expressed dismay over the alleged forceful collection of N200,000 from each driver by officials of the ARTMA
Source: GuardianNigeria - 🏆 1. / 94 Read more »

‘Pepper is three for N200,’ Akwa Ibom governor laments soaring food pricesGovernment at different levels in Nigeria are battling increasing food prices.
Source: PremiumTimesng - 🏆 3. / 78 Read more »

Lawmaker retools farmers with N200 millionChairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Production Services and Rural Development, Saliu Mustapha, at the weekend, flagged
Source: GuardianNigeria - 🏆 1. / 94 Read more »

Demand minimum wage of not less than N200,000, mobilise for strikeA group under the aegis of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, CDWR, has urged the Organised Labour to quickly mobilise and declare a nationwide strike over the minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariff. This is contained in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Bosah.
Source: DailyPostNGR - 🏆 11. / 59 Read more »