NCC Suspends Planned Disconnection of Glo Subscribers from MTN Lines
By Matthew Eloyi
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced the suspension of its intended disconnection of Glo subscribers from calling MTN lines for a period of 21 days. This decision comes in the wake of the NCC’s initial Pre-Disconnection Notice released on January 8, 2024.
In the original notice, the NCC granted approval to MTN Nigerian Communications Plc. to initiate the phased disconnection of Globacom Limited starting from January 18, 2024, owing to a longstanding interconnection debt dispute between the two telecom companies.
The NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, stated in a Thursday release, “The commission is pleased to announce that the parties have now reached an agreement to resolve all outstanding issues between them. For this reason, and in the exercise of its regulatory powers in that regard, the commission has put the phased disconnection on hold for 21 days from today, January 17, 2024.”
While expressing the expectation that MTN and Glo will resolve their issues within the stipulated 21 days, the NCC emphasized the importance of settling interconnect debts as an essential aspect of complying with regulatory obligations for all licensees.
The NCC underscored that its approval for disconnection had potential implications for consumers. In the extension notice, the commission urged mobile network operators and other licensees in the telecom industry to adhere to the terms and conditions outlined in their interconnection agreements.
Reuben Mouka had mentioned on Wednesday that the NCC would provide information to Globacom subscribers about the next steps following the expiration of a 10-day grace period for barring their lines from making calls to MTN lines.
Speaking on the matter, Mouka stated, “We will come out with some information about that. Most likely today, in the next few hours.”
The ongoing dispute revolves around the interconnect charge, which is the fee telecom operators pay one another for calls terminating on their networks. This disagreement over fees has led to intermittent clashes between MTN and Glo, with MTN briefly disconnecting Glo subscribers in 2019 over a N4bn debt.
A source close to Glo has asserted that the telco has already made payments within the allowed window, stating, “We made outstanding payments already.” However, the source added that there are still issues with interest payments and VAT remittance.
