Forex Scarcity May Mar Telecoms Business in 2017, Says Adebayo

Emma Okonji

The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, has raised the alarm that the current foreign exchange (forex) scarcity in the country, that has pushed up the price of dollar against naira, will spell doom for telecoms business in 2017, if the issue is not addressed.

According to Adebayo, “If the issue of forex is not addressed and telecoms operators do not still have easy access to dollars in 2017, it then means it will be extremely difficult to embark on importation of telecoms facilities in 2017.”

Speaking on the implications, Adebayo said telecoms operators would not be able to carry out network expansion in 2017, which invariably would affect service quality.

Aside network expansion, which is key to telecoms development, Adebayo said operators that have been awarded spectrum licences to operate on the 2.3GHz and the 5.4GHz frequency bands by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), may not be able to roll out the services on the frequency bands as stipulated by NCC, should they face the same challenge of forex scarcity.

This calls for serious concern and urgent steps must be taken in order not to make rubbish the efforts of NCC and the telecoms operators who are keen at further developing the telecoms sector that has contributed over $68 billion in telecoms investment from 2001 to 2016, according to recent statistics from NCC.
Adebayo said with the high forex rate, operators need to raise so much naira to get the dollar equivalent with which they could use to import telecoms facilities for network expansion and rollout.

He therefore, called on the federal government to expedite action in addressing forex scarcity in Nigeria this year, to enable telecoms operators embark on telecoms business that will not only be profitable to them but will also add value to telecoms business in the county.

He also asked government to consider giving telecoms operators some concessions in the area of tax rebate and waiver for the importation of some critical telecoms facilities that will drive telecoms development in the country.

Speaking on social environment effect, where most Nigerian operators are currently relocating to other African countries that offer better and enticing social environment scheme, Adebayo said the Nigerian government must rise up to its responsibility of addressing national issues that will attract more foreign direct investment into the country.

He commended the efforts of the National Assembly in fast-tracking the bill on critical national infrastructure, which he said, would help protect telecoms infrastructure from willful destruction by social miscreants, if eventually passed into law.

While bringing up the issue of telecommunications tax bill that has passed through the first and second readings at National Assembly last year, which seeks to increase telecoms tax by additional nine per cent, Adebayo pleaded with the lawmakers to step down the bill, describing it as anti-telecoms that is capable of eroding the gains of telecoms in the past decade.

According to him, the bill, if passed into law, will spell doom for the industry, because telecoms operators would be tempted to pass the same tax to telecoms subscribers by way of increasing telecoms tariff, which he said would be detrimental to telecoms growth, especially now that the country is passing through economic recession.

The telecommunication tax bill, which seeks to increase telecoms tariff, is a private bill that has passed through the first and second readings at the National Assembly, awaiting public hearing, where Nigerians will be invited to make inputs that will determine the decision of the law makers to pass the bill or not.

He said government could make telecoms industry great in 2017 by coming up with the right policy framework and implementation that will boost development in the sector.