All the tea
NCC wants telecom companies to give you all the deets and they aren’t asking nicely
Good morning, Big Brains! If you’re looking for something exciting to tickle your big brain this morning, the Chevening Scholarship is now officially open for applications. You’re welcome. But that’s not the only thing that’s new in today’s edition. Keep reading and we’ll catch you up to speed.
- Margaret
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Reading time ~3 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
Nigerian regulator asks telecoms to make bundles and tariffs more transparent for subscribers
New partnership to boost 'Made in Nigeria' medicines
Russia denies involvement with Nigerian protesters displaying its flag
The Big Deal
Nigerian regulator asks telecoms to make bundles and tariffs more transparent for subscribers
If your network provider has ever moved like a corporate thief, you’ll like what the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is up to.
Network providers in Nigeria have a reputation for using misleading messages to promote their SIM and extort consumers. But that’s about to change because NCC is giving them till the end of the year to wrap the deceit up.
Between now and December 31, telecom companies in Nigeria will be simplifying their tariff plans, bundles and promotional activities according to NCC’s new guidelines.
NCC’s Director, Reuben Muoka, believes these new guidelines should make information about the cost of voice, short messaging service (SMS) and data services to Nigerian subscribers simpler and more transparent.
Now, customers are going to get all the deets – the features of their tariff plans, expected data speed, price-per-second for on or off-network and international calls, bundle offers, terms and conditions of renewal, rollover policies, options for opting in or out and literally every other information about their offerings.
So don’t be surprised if you get messages from your network provider informing you that they are migrating you to a simpler plan.
Why is this a big deal?
For the 220 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria, this could lead to fairer prices and fewer hidden fees. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives called for the investigation of the operations of these telecom operators over poor service delivery and the extortion of Nigerians.
According to the House, “numerous Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have managed to evade accountability for their widespread inefficiency, feebleness, and inferior service delivery, while consumers are compelled to persistently pay for inadequate services due to the apparent absence of regulations governing their pricing and service provision, thereby enabling them to exploit Nigerians.”
These new guidelines will give Nigerians enough information to hold these network providers accountable and compare different data plans to choose the right one for them.
Before these guidelines, leading network operators revealed that the average Nigerian consumes 9 GB which typically costs about ₦3,500 monthly but we should see a reduction soon because data speed and accurate prices will now become available for users.
New partnership to boost 'Made in Nigeria' medicines
How do you feel about Made in Nigeria medicines? If that’s not your vibe, you might have to get into it because Nigeria has formed a new partnership with the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP). This partnership is expected to boost local drug production by 70%.
These drugs will be produced according to the globally accepted standard and the quality will be tested using USP's advanced knowledge. A centralized facility will be set up strictly for these local productions. In plain English, they are going to look and work precisely like your imported medications and they are not going to be branded like your roadside agbo (no shade).
And it’s going to save the country billions of naira…
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, most of the drugs we take in Nigeria are from India, the United States, China, France, and Germany. In Q3 of 2023 alone, the country spent ₦81.81 billion importing drugs.
The heavy reliance on importation is the real reason why drugs are so expensive in the country. So if everything goes well with this new partnership, Nigerians should have access to affordable medication of high quality. And since these medications will be locally produced, 30,000 Nigerians are expected to become employed as a result of the partnership by 2030.
Russia denies involvement with Nigerian protesters displaying its flag
The #EndBadGovernance protests took a very interesting turn in Kano on Monday when some protesters were spotted waving the Russian flag. Many Nigerians have been curious to know what the hell inspired the display but so far, we’ve got nothing.
The protests started last Thursday with a call for the reversal of certain reforms and the eradication of hunger in the country. We must have all missed the part where Russia came into the picture. Anyways, the Department of State service isn’t interested in whatever inspired the flag display. They have described this act as a treasonable offence and they’ve arrested the Nigerian tailor behind the mass production of the flags. Now, we’re not sure how arresting a tailor who was trying to make his daily bread will get us the answers we need but some alleged sponsors are now in custody too.
Russia has made it clear that they had absolutely nothing to do with the protesters parading their flags, describing the display as “personal choices of individuals”.
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