Nigerian Telcos May Block WhatsApp And Skype Calls

Source: http://www.konbini.com/ng/lifestyle/nigerian-telcos-may-block-whatsapp-and-skype-calls/

Ah well. Looks like the recession has finally caught up with all of us. Nigerian telecommunications firms are about to sacrifice our comfort to boost their revenues.

According to a report from The Punch, telecoms companies in Nigeria are planning to address their low international call revenues by blocking subscribers from accessing Over-the-Top (OTT) services. OTT services are the audio, video, and other media content that we transfer via the Internet, without requiring subscription or payment e.g Skype and WhatsApp voice and video calls.

The rise of the OTT providers such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger and Viber, was eating deep into the voice revenue of telecommunications companies in the country by more than 50%, and they had already reportedly lost about 100 trillion Naira between 2012 and 2017. We gather that the telcos are trying not to lose a projected 20 to 30 trillion Naira by 2018, but we can't help but wonder if there's any regard for the situation that would put subscribers in.

Many Nigerians have lots of use for these services and deliberately asking them to pay more for these services or blocking them completely rings very unfair. Especially since their main fear is that customers will increasingly use Skype as a substitute for conventional international calls - and why not?

Nigerian telcos are upset that these tech services are provided using their network infrastructure without commensurate compensation to them, while forgetting that they took the lunch from the land line operators too. Now, someone has to pay them, and it looks like, yet again, it's going to be the Nigerian people.