Starting January 10, 2025, Nigerians will see higher prices for voice calls, SMS, internet data, and other telecom services. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to announce the tariff increase after over a decade of pressure from telecom operators. Rising inflation and the naira’s devaluation have made current rates unsustainable, according to industry insiders.
The upcoming price hike was confirmed by Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, during a stakeholders’ meeting. Tijani reassured the public that the increase would not reach the 100% some operators had sought. He noted that telecom companies’ operating costs have surged by over 300% in the last two years.
“The NCC will soon come up with a clear directive on how we will go about it,” Tijani stated, saying it will be a more moderate increase.
Telecom operators first proposed a 40% tariff hike in May 2022, suggesting increases such as raising call rates from ₦11 to ₦15.40 per minute and 1GB data bundles from ₦1,000 to ₦1,400. Companies argue that inflation and currency devaluation have made maintaining service levels increasingly difficult. Airtel Nigeria’s CEO, Dinesh Balsingh, stressed the need for a phased approach to lessen the burden on consumers.
The tariff adjustments aim to help operators manage rising costs, while the government plans a major infrastructure investment. In Q2 2025, the federal government will launch a 90,000km fibre optic network across Nigeria’s 774 local governments to boost broadband access.
“We cannot leave infrastructure development solely to the private sector,” Tijani remarked. He has assured the government’s commitment to ensuring long-term access to quality telecom services.
