The Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has urged banks to prioritise the payment of their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data debt, which had increased to N200 billion.
The Chairman of ALTON, Hon. Gbenga Adebayo, revealed this development on Thursday in Lagos State.
He spoke during the first telecoms stakeholders’ meeting with the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida.
Adebayo, who spoke on behalf of telecoms operators, said although there had been talks on the issue, no considerable action was taken on the part of the banks.
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He noted that if operators had to shut down their services, bank customers would no longer be able to carry out transactions such as fund transfers through short codes, check bank details and account balances among others through their mobile phones.
The ALTON Chairman said the debt must be paid in total, noting that telcos would not hesitate to block debtor banks from accessing the service anytime soon.
“In spite of all appeals, meetings and interventions by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Central Bank of Nigeria and NCC, mainly during the last administration, the banks have kept mute over the payment,” he said.
The Chairman added that the value of the debt would keep rising based on the foreign exchange challenges in the country.
Adebayo, who said the matter needed to be resolved as fast as possible to avoid a collapse of the sector, noted that the debt was not allowing operators to further expand services.