Etisalat drags telecom giant to court over Visafone acquisition

folarin okunola

February 8, 2016 4:34 PM

“The legal action is considered necessary to prevent the use of the Visafone’s 800MHz spectrum by MTN at this time, as it will entrench the dominance of MTN in the retail data services market" - Etisalat PRO

Etisalat.

According to various media reports,

Chinesie Amanfo, Etisalat’s Public Relations Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Division Officer, responding to enquiries from Guardian Online, said: “The legal action is considered necessary to prevent the use of the Visafone’s 800MHz spectrum by MTN at this time, as it will entrench the dominance of MTN in the retail data services market.

“You will recall that MTN Nigeria was declared dominant by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2013 and remains dominant in the wholesale leased line and retail voice markets.

READ: Visafone founder assures subscribers of better services in spite of MTN acquisition

“The use of the 800MHz spectrum to deploy broadband services ahead of its competitors, particularly those who, prior to MTNs purchase of Visafone, held similar spectrum bands as MTN, will further entrench MTN’s dominance in the Nigerian telecommunications sector.

“We have in addition and in line with Section 86 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 engaged the NCC to understand the basis of its decision to approve the acquisition. As you are aware, the matter is already in court, as such, we are restrained from commenting further on the matter.”

MTN Nigeria, though facing numerous legal battles of its own, had acquired Visafone, Nigeria's last surviving CDMA operator, in January.

The embattled South Africa-based telecom company has not made any statement on this new suit against it as at press time.

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