The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted approval for MTN Nigeria to partially disconnect services to rival operator Globacom over unpaid interconnect fees.
In a notice on Monday, the regulator said Globacom failed to provide sufficient justification for not settling the fees owed to MTN. Interconnect charges are paid by telecom operators to cover costs of calls handed between their networks.
As a result, the NCC stated that Globacom subscribers will be barred from making outgoing voice calls to MTN lines within the next 10 days. However, inbound calls from MTN will still be allowed.
The impending partial disconnection represents a significant escalation in a dispute between two of Nigeria’s largest network operators. With a combined subscriber base exceeding 100 million, any disruption to inter-operator services risks impacting a huge proportion of Nigerian telecom users.
While Globacom has yet to issue an official response, the company now faces a race to either pay the outstanding fees or legally challenge the NCC ruling.
Industry observers say the public nature of the Nigerian Communications Commission notice suggests negotiations have already broken down. This could reflect wider tensions as mobile operators grumble over interconnect rates amid rising operating costs and tightened regulations.
Whichever way it goes, the showdown will be closely watched by stakeholders given the primacy of telecom services to Nigeria’s economy and the Trigital transformation drive. Maintaining healthy competition and compliance frameworks to protect consumers remains crucial as network traffic continues to surge.
Source Glo subscribers to be barred from calling MTN lines — NCC