Telecom
Telcos May Switch Off GSM Services in S/East, Others over Taxes
Telecommunications operators have warned that they will no longer engage any state government over closure of their towers over unapproved taxes or levies but rather will abandon such site, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.
Abandoning closed cell site means that telecommunications operator that owns the site will render it inactive as such cannot transmit calls through such site.
To this end, all mobile phones within the radius of coverage of the closed site won’t be able to make or receive calls.
Gbenga Adebayo
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said that the decision is necessitated by incessant closure of base transreceiver station (BTS) of telecommunications operators since the beginning of this year on account of unapproved taxes and levies by some state government agencies.
The challenges of absurd taxes on members of ALTON, are majorly from regions including South South; South East and North East.
Adebayo gave an example of Taraba State, which locked up cell site during last Christmas period over frivolous taxes.
Some of the imposed taxes, according to him include aviation clearance, site Inspection Fee, hawking permit, building permit, building fitness, sewage fees, fumigation, sewage fees, refuse collection and disposal, capitation fee, shop rate, among others.
According to him, all these imposed taxes would prevent further investments and limit operators’ expansion drive.
“We hereby warn that any site they close going forward, we are not going to open them and what this means is that such state will experience poor quality of service. NCC should not ask us about quality of service (QoS),” he said.
He stated that telcos are being asked to pay Environmental Sanitation levy, generator emission tax among others which are not among approved taxes and levies.
“Presently, we are ment to pay 38 different taxes and levies. Why are we paying tax for generator emission and environmental sanitation? We are ask to pay Environmental sanitation levy of N100million today, you go to a meeting for none payment of this bill and the next day 10 sites are closed. The states in the habit of doing these include states in South-south, South -east, some Northern states and some in South- west except Lagos where the taxes have been harmonized,” he said.
Adebayo however, appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to declare telecommunications infrastructure as critical national infrastructure to address the problem of close of cell sites in the country.
“We have Cybercrime act which is already an act of parliament, a provision of that act demands the president to pronounce certain infrastructure as critical national. We are saying on the strength of that law, the president should give an order declaring telecommunications infrastructure as critical national infrastructure. With that order tomorrow, the game will change,” he said.
According to Engr. Olusola Teniola, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), “our members did not see and still do not see any viability in further bringing in hard earned money into an environment that appears hostile to them. Until Government seriously addresses the multiple taxation issue, multiple regulation and the harmonization of taxes and removal of exorbitant Right of Way charges applied to our members then there wasn’t and there still isn’t any logical or business reason for further investments to be made by them.”
“Just to emphasis the point, the INFRACO licenses were created to address the neutrality in accessibility, affordability and availability of undersea fiber into the hinterland that was the missing piece to ensure ubiquitous broadband infrastructure can be made available to the masses. What we witnessed and the records are there for all to see, is the numerous delays and slowing down of government to assist in the realization of the implementation – without government’s full buy-in there were mixed signals sent to the investment community as to exactly how this was going to be realized,” he said.
Nigeria’s telecom operators recorded 155, 397 fibre-cut incidents between April and May 2026, and these they blame on why internet or calls suddenly stop working.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed fibre-cut incidents increased from 74 276 in April to a record 79 121 in May, bringing the two-month total to the highest level recorded by the industry.
This represents a 2 428% increase from the 5 934 incidents reported during the first quarter of 2026.
Vandalism remained the leading cause of fibre cuts, accounting for more than 54 000 incidents despite telecom infrastructure being designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, a classification intended to strengthen protection of key digital assets.
Also road construction constantly damages fiber where iggers and machines tear up buried cables during road repairs or construction.
Even with all these, some state governments make it hard for companies to fix cables quickly across different areas with all manners of fees and levies.
The NCC designation provides for penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for offenders, but operators continue to face widespread infrastructure damage.
Proposed solutions, including Nigeria’s Dig-Once policy and AI-powered fibre sensing technologies, have yet to achieve widespread adoption.
The NCC is developing a cost-based framework for shared underground duct infrastructure, while operators are exploring AI-powered fibre sensing technologies that can detect cable damage in real time and improve network resilience.
Nigeria is pursuing ambitious broadband targets under its National Broadband Plan and has expanded fibre deployment to about 35 000 kilometres.
However, infrastructure protection has not kept pace with network expansion, leaving subscribers vulnerable to unreliable connectivity despite continued operator investment.
Standard Bank has partnered with Helios Towers to provide a $29 million Social Documentary Credit Facility. According to the financial services company, this transaction marks Standard Bank’s first Documentary Credit Facility structured in a Sustainable Finance format.
It notes that the facility will support the procurement and importation of telecommunications infrastructure and related services across Africa.
It will also provide payment certainty to suppliers, while supporting Helios Towers’ working capital requirements and infrastructure expansion programme, the bank adds.
Structured in accordance with the Loan Market Association’s Social Loan Principles, the financing is designed to promote digital connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure development in underserved markets.
This will help Helios Towers further expand its footprint and enhance mobile network coverage and connectivity across the continent.
Helios Towers operates one of Africa’s independent telecommunications tower platforms, enabling mobile network operators to extend coverage across multiple markets.
Standard Bank notes that the facility supports the expansion of tower infrastructure and services, increased network densification and improved connectivity in underserved markets and remote regions across the African continent.
It will also drive digital inclusion and tackle the digital divide while supporting economic growth and socio-economic development.
“This transaction demonstrates the power of innovation in trade finance. By combining a first-to-market Social Documentary Credit Facility with a cross-border funding solution, Standard Bank has supported Helios Towers’ growth ambitions while helping extend digital connectivity to underserved communities across Africa,” says Benoit Samouilhan, global transaction banker at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking.
According to the bank, this facility enables positive social impact by increasing and improving network coverage and connectivity in some of the world’s most remote regions.
“Reliable digital infrastructure is fundamental to Africa’s future growth and development,” says Alex Carter, group finance director at Helios Towers.
“This facility provides us with the flexibility and certainty needed to support our ongoing infrastructure investments while advancing our mission of expanding connectivity across the continent. We value our longstanding relationship with Standard Bank and look forward to building on this partnership.”
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will on Thursday convene a stakeholders’ consultative forum to review the draft business rules for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Nigeria.
NCC
The forum, scheduled to hold at 10 a.m. at the NCC Annex Office, Mbora, Abuja, is expected to bring together telecommunications operators, industry associations and other stakeholders to provide input on the proposed regulatory framework before its finalisation.
The commission announced the event on its official social media platforms, inviting interested stakeholders to participate in the consultation process.
The engagement is part of the NCC’s efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for MVNO operations and promote greater competition, innovation and consumer choice in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators are telecommunications service providers that offer mobile services by leasing network capacity from licensed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), rather than owning spectrum licences or telecommunications infrastructure.
The NCC has identified the MVNO licensing framework as one of its initiatives aimed at deepening competition, expanding access to telecommunications services and driving digital inclusion across the country.
The consultative forum is expected to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to review the draft business rules, make recommendations and contribute to the development of a robust operational framework for the emerging MVNO segment.
The commission is expected to issue further details on the outcome of the consultation after the meeting.
NBC Scraps Annual Digital Access Fee on DSO
Surge in Fibre Cuts Hobbles Service Provisioning
Why Bandits, Kidnappers are Hard to Trace despite NIN-SIM Linkage – FG
First Securities Brokers Empowers Nigerians to Trade in the Stock Market with the Launch of FirstInvest App
Quest Merchant Bank Hosts Great Place to Work® Nigeria Study Mission
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Telecom2 days agoMTN Nigeria Slashes Cost of Broadband Internet Router, Unwraps New Data Bundles for Low-Budget Users
E-Financial2 days agoNigerians Accumulate $59Bn in Cryptocurrency Assets —FDC
E-Financial2 days agoFlutterwave Partners Xoom on Transfers into Nigeria
General News2 days agoNearpays, Nigerian Fintech Becomes First African Startup to Win UN’s AI for Good Innovation Factory
News2 days agoDataPro Upgrades Dangote Cement’s Credit Rating to AA+
Telecom2 days agoNokia’s 14 Years of Mobile-Phone Supremacy Ended in an Afternoon
E-Business2 days agoTinubu Orders NIMC to Enrol Every Nigerian by End of this Year – DG
General News2 days agoFintech Brands Should Communicate Right in a VUCA Economy