Banks’ USSD Debt Owed Telcos Hits N200bn, ALTON Reveals

Emma Okonji

The unpaid Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt, through which the banks are indebted to telecoms operators has accumulated over the years to over N200 billion as at November 2023, up from N130 billion in September this year, according to the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo revealed this yesterday in Lagos, while highlighting the many challenges faced by telecoms operators, during a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Adebayo, urged the NCC to quickly intervene in the matter without further delay, as the accumulated debt had started affecting the operations of telecoms operators across networks.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, in his opening remarks at the stakeholders’ forum, promised to deepen investments in the telecoms sector, which he said, had contributed immensely to the GDP growth of the Nigerian economy.
Maida equally promised to work with telecoms operators to improve the quality of service in the telecoms sector, in order to serve the telecoms consumer better.