MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator, has stressed the urgent need for the telecommunications sector to return to profitability to sustain its operations.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Karl Toriola, disclosed this during a tour of MTN’s facilities by Fellows of the Media Innovation Programme in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
The MTN chief, who has about 78 million subscribers under his watch, said that the sector has been accumulating significant losses and that immediate action is necessary to reverse this trend.
The operator with a corporate social investment of N2.6bn, according to its 2023 Sustainability Report, is now surviving on the profits it accumulated in about two decades.
“We must return the industry to profitability,” he stated, emphasising the necessity for reform.
He further elaborated that the company is currently operating on its reserves, which he described as unsustainable in the long run.
Earlier this year, telecom operators renewed calls for a tariff hike—the first increase in 11 years—to address rising operational costs and improve service quality. Without such adjustments, they argued, financial viability and service standards will continue to decline.
Toriola reiterated that the sector faces critical pressures from rising operational costs, including escalating diesel prices required to power base transceiver stations.
He warned, “There should be no delusion; if the tariff doesn’t go up, we will shut down,” underscoring the urgent need for tariff adjustments to reflect economic realities.”
