It would seem that operational costs for the telecommunications company are continually on the rise, due to increasingly demanding conditions imposed by the government and regulatory bodies. At any rate, MTN subscribers are bound to take the fall.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg in Lagos on Monday, top officials of the telecommunications company, did not mince words in expressing their grief. Chief Financial Officer MTN Nigeria, Andrew Bing said:
Tougher rules, tougher regulations, greater demands ultimately will impact price, the more you charge up front or the more you demand over a period of time, well somebody has to pay for it. Ultimately the subscribers are the people who will have to pay.
While prices have gone down in the past 3 years, MTN has spent close to between $5 and $6 billion on expansion, according to CEO, Michael Ikpoki.
MTN continues to face challenges in constant power supply, as well as vandalization and cuts to their network of fibre optic cables. Last year alone, they spent close to N34 billion last year on diesel to power base stations.
Ikopki insists that Nigerian regulator’s should focus on making licensing conditions more favourable for companies like MTN, who contribute immensely to the Nigerian economy:
We are already operating under fairly stringent conditions. I don’t know what can be tougher than this.
Source: Bloomberg
