21 telecom operators closed shop in 10 years – ALTON

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said that 21 telecommunications operators in the country have closed shops in the last 10 years.

The ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, made this revelation during the”Broadband Summit 2017,” organised by BusinessDay Media Limited in Lagos, adding that the operators collapsed due to the country’s economic and operational challenges.

“As at 2006, ALTON had 35 members, but between 2007 to date, its members had reduced to 14,” Adebayo said.

He said if care is not taken, more service providers would close shop before the end of year.

The ALTON chairman said firms that had stopped operations in the nation’s telecommunications space included Multilinks, Starcomms and O’Net.

“The economic challenges include poor power generation, multiple taxation, exorbitant Right of Way levies, insecurity and over-regulation, among others.

“The operational issues are anti-competition and lack of fund to roll out,” Adebayo added.

Adebayo said that the cost of getting the Right of Way was over 60 percent of the total amount to putting up the infrastructure. He lamented that within the last five months, the surviving operators lost over 20,000 batteries to theft and vandals at their base stations.

The ALTON Chairman said that some of the batteries, according to investigations carried out, were sold to some inverter operators in the country.

He called on government at all levels to protect the sector because of its immense contribution to the growth of the economy.

He reiterated that “Until we are able to classify the telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, the problems will persist.

“There should be sanction of long term prison service for vandals of telecommunications infrastructure. If there is severe sanction, it will serve as deterrent.”