Telecoms operators in Nigeria have slammed the federal government for banning SMS-based promos in order to carry out its Centenary Games Lottery on the telecommunications operators’ platform.
The ban will see the GSM operators losing billions of naira monthly and hundreds of billions over the period the ban will last.
Through the National Lottery Regulation Commission (NLRC), the Nigerian government ordered MTN, Airtel, Globacom, Etisalat and Visafone to suspend all SMS-based promotional lotteries with effect from January 1, 2014, so that the government can grow its centenary lottery scheme.
Secure Electronic Technology Plc. (SET) has also been appointed as the centenary lottery operator to carry out the lottery on all the five telecommunication firms’ network platforms. The Centenary Games Lottery is part of federal government’s plan to mark Nigeria’s 100 years as a country.
The chairman, Association of Licenced Telecommunications Operators (ALTON), Engineer Gbenga Adebayo, told Leadership Newspaper that the suspension commercial decision
“But if the federal government says that no operator should conduct SMS promos simply because they want to make money for the centenary celebrations, it is an avenue to deny subscribers of the various networks opportunities to communicate.
“In today’s advanced telecommunications world, mobile subscribers have freedom of association and freedom of choice. They have the freedom to communicate from the promotional lotteries offered them by mobile operators. What government is simply doing is to deny them those rights to choice and associate. The federal government’s decision goes beyond commercial decision. It is denying the operators one of their means of livelihood,” he said.
