NCC begins pre-enforcement action against Starlink for price hike

THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has moved against Elon Musk’s Internet firm, Starlink, for a hike in tariff without formal approval from the regulator.

NCC said the decision by Starlink to unilaterally review their subscription packages upwards did not receive its approval.

The Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, in a statement, noted that Starlink’s action is in contravention of Sections 108 and 111 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and Starlink’s License Conditions regarding tariffs.

Mouka in a second statement after withdrawing the first one issued earlier yesterday, said the Commission commenced pre-enforcement action on the licensee on October 3rd, 2024.

Recall that news broke at the weekend that Starlink had increased its subscription fees in the country to the chagrin of other players in the sector, especially the Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

They accused NCC of double standards having denied other service providers, largely mobile network operators, of tariff hike.

Indeed, Starlink last week increased monthly subscription for its Internet service in Nigeria by 97 per cent from N38, 000 to N75, 000.

For new users, the company also increased the Starlink kits (hardware) by 34 per cent from N440, 000 to N590, 000.

The company in a message to its customers in Nigeria cited “excessive inflation” as the reason for the increment.

Checks showed that Starlink is Nigeria’s third largest ISP by subscriber number as of fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.

According to the data, the company’s active customers in Nigeria increased to 23,897 in Q4 of 2024 to become one of the leading ISPs in the country.

As of Q3 2023, NCC’s data showed that Starlink, which announced its presence in Nigeria in January 2023, had 11,207 customers. The Q4 figure represented a 113 per cent increase in customers’ quarter on quarter.

Prior to Starlink’s sudden tariff hike, telecoms operators in the country under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) have been clamouring for tariff review. They claimed that the last tariff hike was done 11 years ago.

According to them, the telecoms industry is the only industry that has not reviewed its prices despite the rising inflation in the country and other economic realities that warrant increment.

ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo told The Guardian that the price hike by Starlink came as a surprise to the association, saying should NCC had granted the price review at this time, “it would be completely at variance with what they know and doing, saying unilateral hike is an affront to the regulator and there has to be consequences, because if it was done by member of the association, we know what the regulator would have done, in terms of sanctioning.

“We conclude that the said operator didn’t seek the right regulatory approval because even the efforts NCC is making about the sustainability of the industry, it would be at variance with all the discussions we have been having about industry sustainability.”