A decision by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to remove the data floor price limit has spurred competition among mobile network operators hoping to attract more subscribers with lower-than-normal data prices.

All major networks in Nigeria have either reviewed the price of their existing data bundles or introduced cheaper options to encourage service adoption and migration.

For example, subscribers paying NGN3,000 for 6GB can now receive 1GB extra for the same amount.

Impact on revenue

The decision to intentionally lower the cost of data for short-term gain could hurt operators going forward.

"Already, the revenue from voice is reducing globally as more people are choosing to do stuff online than via voice. Also, OTT services had greatly reduced revenues from SMS, and data seemed to be the guarantee that operators had for the future. But with what they are doing, it would not be surprising if they record reduction in the coming years," said Nigerian telecoms industry analyst, Wale Oladipo.

The development is in contrast to recent discussions over a proposed communication tax on local internet access.

The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) claimed that the tax would cut internet access for approximately 70 million Nigerians.

The organisation and other coalitions are lobbying for a reduction in the cost of internet access to encourage more people to come online, and Oladipo believes the operators had finally agreed to compete on the lowest internet tariff.

"This is what the operators are trying to do. Knowing that revenue from voice and SMS would fall in the coming years as attention shifts to data, they are now striving to attract as many subscribers as possible with the low data plans and hoping that the subscribers would upgrade to the expensive ones once they've experience the power of internet access."