ISP Lobbies For Affordable Internet Service For SMEs In Nigeria

Internet Service Provider, Spectranet, has said small and medium enterprise need affordable Internet services to maximise their growth potential given a rising trend of business overheads.

The company also said the Internet provided an avenue through which businesses as well as individuals could access unlimited opportunities, tapping into the benefits of globalisation.

The firm, in a statement on Friday, stressed that for small business to grow, ISPs should consciously work towards cutting cost for subscribers, and also give incentives like extra gigabytes in their tariff plan.

It explained that more customers on the networks of ISPs would result in the crash of tariffs, as Internet access cost per person would drop.

More patronage of ISPs, it added, will drive expansion of the industry, which will in turn crash tariffs more.

"With more customers, the business overheads will be shared among them with each person paying less. With this drop in tariff, more people will also come on board, and this process will continue to crash tariffs," it explained.

The ISP, therefore, pointed out that there was the need for operators in the industry to increase capacity, which will subsequently reduce price.

According to it, owners of fiber optic cables in Nigeria must deepen capacity beyond the 10 per cent level currently maintained by them, as that would help ISPs to gain more patronage, therefore, expanding the industry.

Spectranet added, "Internet penetration has a direct correlation with the Gross Domestic Product growth of any nation. Nigeria needs to address the national carrier issue, which is a major determinant of growth in the business, especially in terms of pricing.

"More users of Internet means the reduction of fixed cost by ISPs as the costs will be shared. Internet access charge will drastically drop if the issue of national carrier is addressed by government. This will introduce some form of control in terms of pricing."