NCC ready to force telecom giant to pay fine as deadline expires - report

According to various media reports, the Federal Government of Nigeria has said that it expects telecom giant MTN to meet a deadline for paying a record $3.9 billion fine despite the South Africa-based telecom giant challenging the fine in court.

“If MTN fails to meet the deadline today (Thursday), the regulatory body will enforce the fine,” Victor Oluwadamilare, a spokesman for the Nigerian communications ministry told the AFP.

According to the AFP report, Oluwadamilare said the pending legal case had nothing to do with the payment deadline, saying that “the court case is not tantamount to extending the deadline.”

READ: Telecoms giant refuses to pay NCC fine

As at press time South Africa-based MTN was yet to give a detailed response but had said earlier in the month after challenging the case in court that it expected all parties “to refrain from taking further action” until after the case was concluded.

In its quarterly performance update, MTN said it had disconnected the millions of unregistered subscribers in Nigeria at the end of August, adding that 3.4 million of those subscribers have since been reconnected.

MTN was fined by the Nigerian regulator for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered SIMs in October after the NCC cited security concerns in a country plagued by kidnappings and an Islamist Boko Haram insurgency.