Communications Minister, LASIMRA chief advocate lower call tariffs

Media reports reveal that Mr. Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications, and Mr. Babajide Odekunle, General Manager, Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA), are advocating for lower call tariffs which they believe will give mire Nigerians access to telecoms.

To make this a realization, Shittu has touted Right of Way (RoW) as a critical issue which must be tackled by all three tiers of government.

Shittu said it is imperative for all stakeholders to be actively involved and participate in the dialogue on the modalities of harmonising the tariff charges in the telecoms industry.

The Minister made the statement when the LASIMRA Chief and his team paid him a working visit at his office in Abuja. He said the is a need for the adoption of a common tariff that would allow the common man have access to telephony, get the best services, and be able to afford the call rate.

In his response, Odekunle said the Lagos State government was ready to support the Federal Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) as the benefits are critical to economic development.

The LASIMRA chief said more than 60 percent of the telecom market was based in Lagos which in turn means that telecom operators ought to partner and collaborate with the state government in areas of compliance with existing statutes and regulations.

Vandalisation and poor maintenance of telecom infrastructure has been one of the problems with cost reduction where telecom operators are concerned, to which end the Ministry of Communication and LASIMRA hope to collaborate to solve the issue.