Brace Up: Your call,SMS tariffs could soon cost more, NCC signals

The Nigerian Communications Commission has kicked off its first review of mobile interconnection rates in eight years, a move that could push up call and SMS prices for Nigerian telecom users.

Your next phone bill could come with a sting. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has begun reviewing interconnection rates for calls and SMS, the first shake-up in eight years, and if the numbers move upward, customers will feel it in their pockets.

At the heart of it is the Mobile Termination Rate (MTR), the wholesale fee one network pays another whenever a call hops across providers. It’s currently pegged at N3.90 per minute and N4.70 per minute, unchanged since 2018.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, KPMG partner Wole Adenekan warned that keeping rates artificially low isn’t harmless. “A mis-set MTR can enable dominant operators to foreclose smaller competitors through high termination barriers. A cost-reflective rate supports a level competitive playing field,” he said, adding that inflated charges ultimately land on end-users anyway.

According to Daily Trust, Adenekan pointed to naira devaluation, inflation and surging energy costs since 2018 as reasons the old framework no longer fits, alongside 5G rollout and the rise of OTT apps eating into traditional call traffic.

NCC’s Omotayo Mohammed explained the rationale: “For regulation to remain effective in a fast-moving market, our frameworks must evolve in step with it.” She said the review, anchored on Section 108 of the NCA 2003, aims to keep tariffs “reasonable, cost-reflective, and non-discriminatory.”