Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, has urged the federal government to include them in the list of agencies that are license to access foreign exchange at the official price to ease access to procurement of necessary infrastructure that would enhance telecommunications services in the country.
The Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, who made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Communications, Bar. Adebayo Tuesday in Abuja, noted that the inability of its members to access foreign exchange would have adverse effect on quality service delivered to Nigerians.
According to him, “without access to foreign exchange, it will be very difficult for operators to access equipment such as parts, component for maintenance as well as replace dilapidated the infrastructures in the telecommunication sector for effective service delivery”.
Adebaya also decried the heavy taxation imposed on telecom operators by different layers of government, saying it weighs down their operations.
“We believe that taxes and levies should be broad-based and fairly distributed across all sectors of the economy”
He said, “The bill for an Act for the introduction of 9% communications services tax, for the imposition, charging, collection and same on communication that is before the National Assembly if passed into law the end users will have to pay vat 14% as against the current 5% vat charged”.
Adebayo tasked the government to pass laws that would make the vandalisation of telecommunications infrastructure a serious offence punishable by long years of imprisonment.
He said that until government declares telecom infrastructure as ‘Critical National Security and Economic Infrastructure’ as provided by the cybercrime law of 2015, vandals would not restrain themselves from willfully damaging infrastructure which in turn results in poor quality of service.
According to him, “the Telecom industry supports many other economic sectors whose operations and trade depend on our services.
He also noted that the …Read More
Source:: Nigerian Pilot
