Nigerian telcos are also feeling the heat of the recession as they try to address concerns over revenue loss from international calls. And they intend doing this by preventing subscribers from accessing Skype, voice and video calls on WhatsApp and Facebook, among other Over-The-Top (OTT)services; having already lost about N100tn between 2012 and 2017. With this aggressive approach, the companies are hoping to hit a revenue target of N20tn.
A manager at one of the major telecos in the country said, “If we fail to be pro-active by taking cogent steps now, then there are indications that we may lose between N20tn and N30tn, or so, by the end of 2018.” It was also revealed that the spread of apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger and Viber, was taking a big chunk of the voice revenue of telcos in the country.
Speaking on this news, the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said: “We don’t have any evidence of that. We do not regulate the Internet.” Also The Managing Director, TechTrends Nigeria, Mr. Kenneth Omeruo, said, “I am not aware of this development but globally, operators and network equipment makers don’t really embrace Skype.
I personally don’t know how true this story is, but if it is a step Nigerian Telcos have decided to take, I think it’s not a very wise one. They should sit down and think about how we pay for the data that we use to access these OTT services.
What do you think about this move?