By SAMSON AKINTARO
If you are a mobile phone subscriber residing in, or with plans to visit the following six states of Nigeria – Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi and Kaduna – there’s some piece of bad news for you. You will soon be completely cut off from any connection to mobile telephony services.
This is because the mobile operates, all of them – that is those currently operating, namely Airtel, Etisalat, Globacom and MTN – have jointly issued threats of shutting off those states from their networks. That is, subscribers in Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi and Kaduna might soon be unable to enjoy access to mobile telephony and ancillary telecom services.
And, their grouse? Multiple taxation, a malaise they say has grown beyond proportion and has reach such a crescendo that unless the states were stopped from the unhealthy practice altogether, their operations were in jeopardy beyond salvage.
The mobile operators, speaking in Lagos, through their common body, the Association of Licensed Telephone Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said the six states mention are just a first batch in the list of regions of Nigeria where multiple taxation was biting too deep, and which will be cut off from mobile phone services. This is a clear indication that more states will fall into the ugly situation if they do not stop or check multiple taxation on telecommunications services operators.
For the operating telecom companies in Nigeria, the hard way might have become the only way for them to resolve lingering challenge of multiple taxation as various states across the country continue what the operators described as illegal and ridiculous taxing of telecom infrastructure. Hence, they have resolved that any base station shut by any state authority over illegal fees and taxes may have to remain shut indefinitely and in the event that the state continues with other sites, they may have to resolve to the ultimate action of shutting down service completely in the affected state(s).
According to the operators, many base stations have been shut in those states over demand for illegal taxes and fees by their agencies. As a result of the shut base stations, subscribers in those states will be suffering service disruptions and poor quality service and when the service is completely shut down as threatened by the operators, it will not only affect people of the states but all other states in the country as nobody would be able to contact people in the affected states.
Addressing newsmen in Lagos, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of ALTON, which is the umbrella body of all the telecom companies, said:
“Our Association is very concerned about the recurring cases of Telecom sites closure by government agents. We continue to record cases of arbitrary site closure in many states of the federation in an attempt to force service providers to pay local taxes and levies some of which are multiple in nature and most of which are only aimed toward telecom operators”
Citing some examples, Adebayo queried: “What has telecom operations got to do with ‘Eco Tax for gaseous emission and gaseous emission” when we do not have moving machineries and production lines? What has telecom service got to do with Sewage, Sanitation and public convenience levy, when we are not hotel and bar operators? What has telecom services got to do with Sanitation and refuse effluent tax: when we don’t operate fast food centres? How can a base stations situation in farm land be regarded as business premises and therefore liable to business premises tenement rate payment? Why is the rate charged per base station in the urban areas different from the rate applied for residential and commercial buildings when the infrastructure occupies the same land?”
Lamenting that incidences of those illegal and multiple taxation are recurring, the ALTON Chairman declared: “We have resolved that, arbitrary sealing of our sites, without following the guidelines clearly provided by the Nigeria Communications Commission and in line with best practices will no longer be tolerated; Any State or local government authority that closes our sites: our members will not reopen such sites: we will serve the necessary warnings and if such practices continue: we are then faced with two options: first is to pay the charges by such state Government, and to increase the tariff chargeable for calls originating and terminating from networks in such states: With all the attendant service delivery issues.”
“Where such actions on the part of government continue: we shall then advise all our members, after due consultation with relevant authorities, because of the security and economic implications, to shut down the entire network in such state for one full day as a final warning to such State or Local Government area. Enough is enough. We are considering very carefully the situation of site closure and harassment of our members in some of the following states and we may begin anytime soon to have them feel the impact of their actions on telecom operators if they do not desist from deliberate disruption of our operations, these are: Ogun, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Osun and Kaduna States due to arbitrary closure of telecom sites and actions of government impacting on our operations.”
According to him, the States are treating telecom industry as an extractive industry and imposing myriads of taxes on its member and closing down the BTS Sites arbitrarily. “Many sites in the listed states have been shut down by thermonuclear state Government or about to be shut by agents of Government not minding the security and economic implications on their states, he said.”
He therefore reiterated the need for special protection for telecom infrastructure and operations in the country. “The Telecom industry support many other economic sectors whose operations and trade depends on our services. We are also in the first layer, when it comes to critical technology service for enhanced safety and security. Unless we have first level of protection by Government, it will be difficult to continue to provide uninterrupted services with the type of venerability of our members and their infrastructure. We hereby appealed to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, for a presidential declaration of “telecom Infrastructure as Critical National Security and Economic Infrastructure” as provided by the cybercrime law of 2015,” he said.
On destruction of telecom infrastructure in the North-Eastern part of the country due to terrorism, Adebayo lamented that quite a number of telecom base station sites, exchanges and other critical equipment were destroyed by insurgents in the North East of Nigeria, and it has remained increasingly difficult to restore services in those areas. He then appealed to the Federal Government and governments of the affected states to support the telcos for secured access to those sites and concession by way of relieves to members who are rebuilding damaged infrastructure in those areas.
“We are not asking government for monetary compensation, what we are asking for is concession by waivers and relieves from Government” he said.