I find news that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is withdrawing the “data floor price’’ for operators in the telecommunications industry as quite interesting. “Floor price’’ is a government or group-imposed price control or the limit a price can be charged for a product to check unhealthy rivalry among players.
In simple english, data rates in the country seems to be around the same price because NCC ordered it to be so. Of course, through various promos and bonuses, the (smart) operators have been able to offer more data at lower overall prices, but with the removal of this “data floor price”, more should follow.
What bugs me is the existence of the “data floor price” in the first place, what is that for? I believe in competition, I believe in the free market. Over regulation is the killer of innovation and progress. If Etisalat had wanted to offer 10Gb at #1,000, the “data floor price” would have stopped them.
Who exactly is the regulation of industries beneficiary to?
Maybe the fat, greedy incumbents who always lose out in the long run, no matter how many policies we draft to sooth them.
__________
Watching The World
