AtCON President, Olusola Teniola, gave the warning when he led members of the association’s Executive Council on a working visit to the General Manager, Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Authority (LASIMIRA), Babajide Odekunle, at the weekend in Lagos.
Teniola lamented that revenues from voice calls have declined sharply while data that was supposed to have provided alternative revenue stream is being challenged by a myriad of factors including operating cost.
He stated that the crash in the value of the naira against the dollar has ensured that roll-out of new base transmission station (BTS) and expansion of existing capacity remained impossible.
“We want to appreciate the professional way LASIMRA has been regulating the industry; we particularly thank the new management of LASIMRA for sustaining the tradition of excellence in the organization,” he said.
“But in spite of these positive developments, our association has some concerns which include unstable forex rates. The free fall of the naira against the dollar has constituted a serious source of worry to our sector and as a matter of fact our member companies have tried to make sure that Lagosians and Nigerians as a whole have access to qualitative communications service but the continuous depreciation of the naira is not encouraging from a capital expenditure (capex) roll out perspective.”
“Again, revenue derived from voice is seriously being challenged. To worsen the situation as an industry, the telecommunication companies are barely making any money from voice due to considerable drop rate in average revenue per user (ARPU). The direct implication of this is that the revenue that is generated from data is now being challenged by the cost of operating the business which is increasing on a daily basis and may lead to further laying-off of staff,” Teniola added.
