MTN sent out the above text messages to its customers on Monday confirming data cost are expected to go up on December 1st 2016.
They explained the reason for the increase was due to “rates set by the NCC”.
The text message is shocking to a lot of Nigerians who do not understand why NCC will be involved in rate setting let alone increasing the cost of data to Nigerians. Internet penetration in Nigeria is currently around 46.1% with over 80 million people with access to the internet.
According to our sources, the rate hike will see data that used to cost about N1,000 for 1.5GB rise to N1000 for 500MB. This translates to a price hike of about 300% for data.
The NCC is yet to issue an official statement on this price hike and neithrt had other networks confirmed plans to also increase tariff.
Nigeria’s inflation rate for October was 18.3% while the latest third quarter GDP shoes the growth contracted by 2.2%. The NBS also revealed Nigeria’s household consumption contracted for the second straight quarter following a consecutive monthly contraction in employee compensation.
More to follow..
Nairametrics is Nigeria’s top business news and financial analysis website. We focus on providing resources that help small businesses and retail investors make better investing decisions. Nairametrics is updated daily by a team of professionals. Post updated as “Nairametrics” are published by our Editorial Board.