Nigerian Telcos' N165B Debt
The Nigerian government will not bail out any telecom operator on the N165 billion interconnectivity debts they owe one another. The request by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), a trade association, urging the Nigerian government to bail out telecom companies in the country over the N165 billion interconnect debts they owned themselves, is simply to remind government that telcos have real needs for money.
Speaking at an interactive session with Journalists recently in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said: “The NCC is worried about the accumulated huge debts from interconnectivity, which currently stood at over N165 billion and we have summoned operators and advised them to pay up their interconnect debt promptly. But be that as it may, no operator can disconnect another operator on the ground of interconnect debt, except by the express permission of NCC.”
This debt is one of the biggest challenges we will face in coming years in the sector. I expect these companies to start suing one another on the debt from 2023 when every source of revenue would matter. The best government can do now is to have a clear guideline on not just the cost but a requirement on when it must be settled.