NATCOMS Warns Subscribers Over Tariff Plans

The President, National Association of Telecommunications
Subscribers (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, has cautioned subscribers to be
wary of the numerous tariff packages being offered by service providers.

In an interview with the newsmen on Thursday in Lagos,
Ogunbanjo urged subscribers to understand the terms and conditions before
opting for any tariff plan.

He said that the different tariff packages being rolled out
by the telecommunications operators were normal occurrences in any competitive
industry.

The NATCOMS president explained that the introduction of numerous
tariff packages was a welcome development as long as such offers were made with
a lot of freebies attached to them.

“In competition, you need to review your tariff on a regular
basis so as to attract your subscribers to keep using your network.

“One should exercise a lot of caution in analysing these
freebies, because some of the freebies are sometimes traps for you to get in
and patronise them, while they get most of the benefits’’, he said

Ogunbanjo said the regular tariff reviews by the operators should
deliver lower rates to subscribers, otherwise subscribers should not subscribe
to them.

He noted that the service providers were getting more
proactive than before as competition was getting stiffer.

Ogunbanjo said that though subscribers derived some benefits
from the numerous tariffs, most of the benefits were in favour of the service
provider.

He said that the different tariffs in the country’s
telecommunications industry were preparatory to the Mobile Number Portability
(MNP), which would ensure that operators offered better services.