The Federal Government has given a directive to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to slash the price of data by more than 50%.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ibrahim Pantami who disclosed this said the action was in line with the directive he gave to the regulatory agency (NCC) to put measures in place to reduce the average cost of data in the country.
According to him , “The average cost of 1GB of data has reduced from the January 2020 cost of N1,000 to N487.18 in November, 2020.
“This was based on a report by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) submitted to the Honourable Minister following the implementation of the directives,” Dr Pantami’s Technical Assistant, Mr Femi Adeluyi said in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Adeluyi who is Technical Assistant, Information and Technology, said: “The Honourable Minister had inaugurated a Committee that developed the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) on December 16, 2019.
He said the Plan was unveiled and launched by President Muhammadu Buhari, on March 19, 2020 with the intention to reduce the average cost of 1GB of data to a maximum of N390 by 2025.
With the January 2020 baseline of N1,000 per GB, the maximum projected steady decrease for the end of each year was as follows: 2020 (N925), 2021 (N850), 2022 (N775), 2023 (N700), 2024 (N545) and 2025 (N390).
He said; “Based on the Report by NCC, the average cost of data as at November 2020 was N487.18, which amounts to 47.33% lower than the projected value.”
”The Report also indicates that the cost of data in November 2020 was less than 50% of the cost of data in January 2020.
“The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, through the NCC, will continue to ensure that consumers enjoy a price regime that supports fairness and is friendly to consumers.
“Policies are in place to ensure that operators adopt competitive pricing that eschews unjustifiable margins. The general public may also wish to note that complaints about rapid data depletion are also being investigated.
He said the Minister has directed NCC to respond to all issues raised by our citizens and customers.
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