Ahead of the December 31, 2015 deadline, which the
Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, gave MTN
Nigeria to pay a N780 billion fine for refusal to
disconnect some 5.1 million improperly registered
subscribers on its network, the regulator is also warning
all the telecom operators to get their acts right because
it is no longer going to be business as usual.
The
commission
said it has
discovered that
dealing with
the operators
with kid gloves
will breed
impunity,
capable of
retarding
development
in the sector.
Director, Public
Affairs of the
commission,
Mr Tony Ojobo,
said that the
operators
should take the MTN fine as a warning against flagrantly
disrespecting laid down rules and laws governing their
operations in the country.
He warned that the commission would not hesitate to
come down hard on erring operators, not only to protect
the operators themselves, but the subscribers and the
operating environment as a whole.
“If you don’t create room for punishment,” said Ojobo, it
can lead to impunity. So you have to apply the law to
show that you are dispassionate, not biased, but
following the rule of engagement.
According to him, “there is a signal now that it won’t be
business as usual. We have received accolades
worldwide and cannot now make a mess of ourselves
back home. The way we manage this situation sends
signals outside, on how we are operating our services
here. If you don’t sanction, there are consequences.
“This sanction is good for us because it will instil
discipline, move our market forward, sanitise our
operating environment, and also show that the regulators
are alive to their responsibilities in the sense that we
don’t have any preferences when our regulations are
abused. What we have applied is a carrot and stick
approach. The stick was the sanction, the carrot was the
waiver of 25percent” he added.
The controversy surrounding the unprecedented One
trillion, four hundred million Naira fine the Nigerian
Communications Commission, NCC, slammed on MTN
Nigeria for allegedly not being able to disconnect about
5.1 million improperly registered subscribers on its
network, appeared settled, last week, when the regulator
reduced the fine by 25 percent.
However, the commission’s decision to reduce the fine
and the figure at which it arrived at, have also elicited
reactions from the Nigerian public. Although, notable
Information technology practitioners have refrained from
making comments on the whole issue, they however,
expressed optimism that the telecommunications
company would show good corporate practice by paying
the fine as reduced.
Those who pleaded to be left out of the debate, argued
that the sensitive nature of the fine makes industry
players’ opinion very implicating.
One of them told our reporters: “We are praying that
these whole issue comes to rest. There are a lot of
implications in commenting on the issue. Both MTN and
NCC are very important industry stakeholders who we all
do businesses with. Besides, their contributions to the
growth of the sector is not hidden. So we can only pray
that things are resolved amicably”
Meanwhile, social commentators and avid industry
watchers are not looking at those considerations. An
army of Vanguard online community participants among
other social media commentators who said they’ve been
monitoring the issue from day one, do not want their
voices lost in the whole saga.
While some cautioned the NCC to tread softly
considering MTN’s level of investment in the country,
others condemned the commission for even daring to
reduce the fine. For them, some foreign organisations
who have their businesses in Nigeria are wont to
engaging in some practices they would never attempt in
their home countries and so the earlier Nigeria showed
that the country was not where anything goes, the better
for her business economy.
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