The largest GSM service provider in Nigeria, the MTN, has been fined N1.4 trillion by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the nation’s telecommunications regulator, for failing to disconnect subscribers with unregistered SIM cards bought before January 2012.
This is even as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is said to be getting set to investigate its financial dealings following a petition filed by an undisclosed Nigerian government agency.
According to the source close to EFCC, the Commission would be looking into the dealings and the books of the Telco with a view to establishing if it is conforming to financial rules. The investigation would also zero in on whether the non-disconnection of the controversial SIMs gave MTN Nigeria any undue market share advantage over other network operators.
And according to reports, NCC gave all the phone companies to register their existing customers’ SIM cards, but that MTN Nigeria – the biggest telecommunications firm in Nigeria – failed to do.
The N1.4 Trillion fine is the largest in the history of telecom infringements in Nigeria and may redefine the relationships between telecommunications operators and the regulator.
Nigerians continue to complain about poor services from mobile network operators and blame the regulators for not doing enough to solve the problem.
A senior executive at MTN Nigeria said the company will issue a statement on the fine.
Meanwhile, shares in South Africa’s MTN dropped more than 5 per cent today after reports in Nigeria said the mobile phone firm’s Nigerian unit could face a fine of as much as $5.2 billion, traders said. [myad]
