Telecom giant MTN Nigeria has been fined a record $5.2bn by Nigeria’s Communications Commission (NCC).
According to NCC’s confidential document, MTN was fined yesterday, October 26. The
document says MTN Nigeria is a serial offender of regulations in the industry, and explains how the staggering figure was arrived at.
MTN was fined for non-compliance with a deadline set by the NCC to disconnect all non-registered sim cards.
“The fine of N1,040 billion is in line with Section 19 of the SIM Registration Regulations specifying N200,000 per unregistered SIM and the penalty has been applied for the 5.2m MTN SIM card registration records found to be non-compliant by the NCC,” the document says. “This unprecedented fine is indicative of the magnitude of the transgression and the seriousness with which the NCC and the authorities are approaching this issue. It is also more likely to ensure that the wilful non-compliance by MTN ceases.”
The move follows accusations by mobile phone users that the regulator had failed to bring operators to account for poor services to subscribers.
MTN Nigeria says it is studying the letter sent to it by the regulator and will respond soon.
A senior official of the company told the BBC it was in talks with the regulator over the fine and hoped to resolve the matter.
According to BBC Abuja, some Nigerians say they want the regulator to address poor network signals provided by telecoms companies in the country.
They also want more sanctions on firms to encourage them to improve signals and the quality of service in the country. Details on Sahara Reporters.
Statistics from the NCC indicates that Nigeria, a country with an estimated population of more than 170 million, has almost 150 million mobile phones.
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