Mobile network operators (MNOs) yesterday said deposit money banks (DMBs) should perish any thought of being forgiven the debt owed them over the use of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).
Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, who spoke on behalf of the operators on the sideline of the first interactive session of the new Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida with the CEOs of telecom companies and other stakeholders in Lagos, said the debt has since risen to N200billion.
He said the debt issue will not fizzle away until it is paid, adding that the banks must be living in illusion if they thought it will be written off as bad debt.
“Banks USSD debts to telcos is now N200 billion. It will not go away. It will not be forgiven. It will be paid in full and we will not hesitate to block debtor banks. This is problem and if it’s not solved, it will continue to haunt the rest of the sector,” he said.
The ALTON boss said the value of the debt would keep rising based on the fluctuating foreign exchange challenges in the country. He said there have been discussions around resolving the debt crisis, adding however that those conversations have not translated to a substantial repayment of the debt.
Adebayo also told the EVC that the operators needed help in solving the historical problem of poor quality of services in Abuja. “It is also important to address the issue of access and infrastructure in different regions. It is crucial to tackle these problems to ensure the support of those who provide infrastructure,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the President Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere stated the importance of infrastructure in the country.
“There is a real challenge in the growth of the infrastructure in our country and this we need help with,” he said, adding that there was need for connectivity in both urban and rural areas. He expressed concern about handling costs in terms of right-of-way.
In his opening remarks, the EVC discussed the importance of delivering digital services and the need for multiple approaches to achieve this.
“We need to get to the point whereby digital services can be delivered anywhere in the country. I think we need to have multiple approaches to get to as many as possible. There are some areas where we have to be a little bit more creative and innovative. You are going to see a lot more integrated projects across the agencies under the Digital Economy Ministry whereby we can deliver more holistic solutions as opposed to what sometimes is often perceived as a sidelined approach. So, we’re going to need that foundation to enable us to deliver those applications and value-creating activities that the telecom infrastructure environment will have.”
He also emphasised the importance of quality of service and the need to focus on the user experience.
“I have spoken about quality of service. To me that is not negotiable. We are going to move more and more towards quality of experience. Let’s not just sit down with our infrastructure and say things are good. We need to move more towards listening to the voice from the end user,” Maida said.
He said his attention will be devoted to driving the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu and the blueprint of the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, adding that job creation will also be a major focus.
He said his expectation for the industry to contribute more to the GDP and highlights the importance of hearing from industry professionals to shape the strategic direction of the regulatory body.
He expressed his excitement and willingness to collaborate with industry leaders to move Nigeria forward.
Over the last one decade or so, USSD–a technology dating back to the 1980s, has gained traction by customers without smartphones to access digital banking services. By just dialing a code, holders of feature phones effortlessly carry out functions such as cash transfers, account balances checking and generating bank statements.
According to the leadership of MNOs, the debt has continued to rise because some of the banks, especially the big ones are not paying and aren’t willing to pay.
The dispute between the telcos and the banks began in 2019 when the former threatened to shut down the latter’s access to USSD platforms. They argued that banks should foot the bill for USSD sessions. The former CBN governor had argued that the MNOs were no longer investing a dime on USSD infrastructure because the initial cost was described as “sunk cost”.
After the intervention of the NCC, CBN and the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, there were protracted negotiations after which the banks agreed that they would pay and the price of at N6.98 to be remitted to telcos directly from customers’ bank accounts.
The continuing dispute revolves around the technical definition of a transaction. The banks argue that fees are only charged after a banking transaction has been carried out but many customers end their session before one has taken place. The telcos argue that banks should charge customers as soon the relevant code has been successfully dialed.
The banks are still refusing to pay, leaving the telcos burdened with a significant amount of accounts receivable related to USSD session fees.
Group CEO, GTCo, Segun Agbaje had faulted the USSD technology which he described as archaic. Instead of USSD, he said data prices should go down so that people could do internet banking.
He added that the company’s USSD value had dipped by 22per cent. The reason for this poor performance, according to him, is that “the N6.98 charge is a punitive cost and most people do not want to pay that just to use the USSD. That’s why it has stopped growing.”
