MTN Nigeria Jerks Up Call Rates By 76.9%

MTN Nigeria has implemented a staggering 76.92 percent increase in its Pulse call bundle rate, raising the cost from N7.8 per minute (13 kobo per second) to N13.8 per minute (23 kobo per second).

This comes as part of a broader price adjustments following the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) approval of a 50 percent tariff increase across the telecom industry.

MTN has also hiked its SMS rates from N4 to N6 and is in the process of rolling out substantial increases across its data bundles.

In a message to Pulse customers on Monday, the telco announced, “Y’ello! Keep enjoying calls at 23k/s to all networks and N6/SMS on Pulse.”

The new pricing structure is being rolled out gradually, as additional adjustments will be reflected over the weekend and into next week.

The price changes have already affected various data plans, with sharp increases across the board.

Notable adjustments include 1.8GB monthly plan which now costs N1,500, up from N1,000 for 1.5GB; 20GB plan surged to N7,500 from N5,500; 15GB plan jumped to N6,500 from N4,500; 90-day 1.5TB plan skyrocketed from N150,000 to N240,000 and 600GB 90-day plan now costs N120,000, up from N75,000.

Two/three-month plans have also seen drastic increases with 100GB for N20,000 now reduced to 90GB for N25,000, and 160GB for N30,000 now offering just 150GB for N40,000.

While other telecom operators have yet to follow suit, industry experts expect them to align with MTN’s pricing structure soon.

The NCC’s approval of this hike on January 20 marks the first of such increase in a decade, a move justified by operators as necessary to sustain infrastructure investments and technological advancements.