The Senate on Wednesday called on the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to engage telecommunications operators to consider reviewing the costs of data and other internet-related services for their teeming subscribers.
This resolution followed a motion on the “Urgent Need to Address the Increased Cost of Data Services in Nigeria” sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South), which was largely adopted by the lawmakers during plenary.
On February 11, telecom giants like MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile hiked the costs of data and airtime plans following the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission, citing rising operational costs.
While calling for fair pricing, Ekpenyong lamented that the over 200 per cent hike in costs had “placed significant financial strain on millions of Nigerians, especially young people who rely on the internet for their livelihood.”
The upper chamber also asked the ministry to develop a policy framework for affordable internet services in Nigeria, in addition to the government establishing and supporting tech hubs across the country that would “provide free or subsidised internet access to young entrepreneurs, students, and innovators.”
The motion partly reads, “The Senate notes that young Nigerians have embraced the digital economy, leveraging the internet for various income-generating activities, including e-commerce and online trading software development, web design, and mobile app creation, content creation on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, online education and professional skill development and cryptocurrency trading.
“Concerned that fibre-optic internet services remain unaffordable for the average young Nigerian, leaving them heavily dependent on mobile telecommunications companies for internet access and the sudden substantial increase in data costs threatens their economic survival and limits access to critical digital services.
“Aware that the high cost of doing business in Nigeria is driven by multiple challenges, bottlenecks that slow down business operations and high cost of diesel, (the Senate) believes that urgent government intervention is required to ensure affordable internet access remains available to Nigerians, particularly the youth, who are the backbone of Nigeria’s digital economy.”
After the motion was read, the senators unanimously endorsed it at the plenary, which also had the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, in attendance.
In his remarks, Akpabio stressed that implementing the motion would help budding entrepreneurs remain in their game by ensuring access to affordable data, which in turn would boost revenue and profits for them.
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