The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) on Monday called for Federal Government’s concession on some equipment to rebuild the damaged infrastructure in the North-East.
Gbenga Adebayo, ALTON chairman, who made the call in an interview in Lagos, said ”we are asking for concession by way of waivers and relieves from the Federal Government.
“We are not asking for compensation, we are not asking Federal Government for money.
”We are only asking that Federal Government should give us some concessions by way of customs duty waiver on equipment that will be used to rebuild those sites.
”This can be by way of access, this can be by way of waiver for the Annual Operating Levy (AOL) for revenue generated from those sites for a period of time.
”It can also be by way of waiver on ground rent and the rate chargeable by the governments in those areas,” he said.
Adebayo said that a number of service providers’ base station sites, exchanges and other critical equipment were destroyed by the insurgents in the North-East.
He said that it had remained increasingly difficult for the operators to restore services in those areas.
Adebayo said that service providers were also asking for consideration on the unlawful closure of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites by the state government agencies and issues of multiple taxation and regulations.
The ALTON chairman said that all these had contributed to the poor quality of services in the region.
