MTN gets Friday deadline to pay $5.2b fine

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday extended to Friday the deadline given to MTN to pay a $5.2billion fine.The commission also said it sanctioned the telecommunications giant based on security reasons following its failure  to deactivate 5.2million unregistered SIM cards.

It said it acted in the national interest and to protect innocent Nigerians from falling victim of terrorists using unregistered SIM cards .

According to a top shot in NCC, the deadline was extended to  Friday for more consultations.

The source said: “Although the deadline expired on Monday, we have extended it to Friday to enable all parties to conclude ongoing talks.

“Definitely by the end of the week(Friday), we will issue another statement. We hope that we would have finalised ongoing discussions in the interest of all parties. Our official position will be known by the end of the week.

“We decided not to be rigid about the deadline to allow for the conclusion of talks.”

The NCC, in  a statement by its Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, broke its silence on why MTN was sanctioned.

It said the sanctions became inevitable because national security was  at stake.

The NCC statement said: “Following the sanctions placed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), members of the public have expressed diverse interest as to what actually transpired.

“The fine was a result of violation of Section 20(1) of the Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulation of 2011.

“Section 20 (1) of Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011 states that: ‘Any licensee who activates or fails to deactivate a subscription medium in violation of any provision of these Regulations is liable to a penalty of N200,000.00 for each unregistered but activated subscription medium.”

“The fine of N1.04trillion on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was done in the interest of the public, which has been at the receiving end of security challenges.

“Consequent upon the overwhelming evidence of non-compliance, and obvious disregard to the rule of engagement by MTN, the NCC had no choice but to impose the sanctions.

“MTN, in a letter of November 2, 2015 admitted the infraction and pleaded for leniency.  The Commission has acknowledged this and is looking into their plea without any prejudice to the fine. The fine remains but the appeal and other engagements with MTN may affect the payment deadline.”

NCC also gave the details of how MTN had committed infractions and its neglect of warnings.

It added: “The fine that was imposed on MTN was the second within two months after the operators were given a seven-day ultimatum to deactivate all unregistered and improperly registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards. While others complied, MTN did not.