Nigerian subscribers call MTN's bluff... Go if
you wish
By Olabisi Olaleye
By Olabisi Olaleye
FOLLOWING the Federal Government's insistence
that the dominant mobile t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s operator, MTN
Nigeria must pay a fine of N780 billion imposed on it for an infraction or
attach a bank statement to its letter of plea indicating that it cannot
accommodate the liability before any review is done, Nigerians at the weekend
bared their minds on the company's face off with its regulator, the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC).
Many are however, concerned that MTN's body language
seems to suggest the telco may be on its way out of Nigeria without making
noise about it.
Asked what will be the consequence of current
face off, or whether MTN should leave the shores of the country, some members
of the public bared their minds to Daily Sun.
For instance, Nnamdi Igbo says, "MTN was
the second to roll out but it is now the envy of other telecoms operators due
to its dominant status. Currently, MTN has 62 million subscribers and will not
dare leave because if it does, Nigeria will not have anything to lose at all
since we have the population and market. Its last annual report shows that MTN
made its highest returns on investment in Nigeria, and will lose all that if it
goes like that".
Another industry watcher, Theophilus Obogo says,
"If MTN wants to leave, it will quickly help the likes of Etisalat or
Globacom to absorb its staff and spectrum. Remember the issues of spectrum and
dominance were the key reasons the youngest operator took it to court. Nigeria
won't lose anything. To borrow the words of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, the
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, "before telecoms, Nigerians lived
well. Invariably, before MTN, there were other means of communication but some
people who are addicted to the network may find it hard to shift base".
For Opeyemi Ajanaku, MTN should find a way
around the lingering issues and look for means to settle with NCC amicably.
"You can't come to Nigeria and kick
against her rules? You can't do that in South Africa without being killed or
maimed. MTN has the money but it doesn't want to obey the rules of its
regulator. It probably sees NCC as a business as usual regulator, not knowing
that we are in an era of change with no room for manipulations. What will
Nigeria lose? Nothing, absolutely nothing. We helped MTN to grow and it is
regrettable that it wants to bite the fingers that fed it. MTN will swap out
your recharge credit, deduct your money through unsolicited caller tunes, yet
it doesn't want to remit sanction money demanded by its regulator," he
wondered.
Teniola Nwabudike, on his response, stated
that MTN may want to stylishly withdraw from Nigeria with its recent engagement
of the US attorney to fight its case but at the same time, it should realise
that Nigeria has the population and as such should be ready to play by the rule
to retain its market share.
"If it leaves, no one will remember that
MTN ever existed except in documents. Why? It's obvious every telco is hungry
for spectrum because MTN has what most of them don't have. The telco must learn
to play by the rule and borrow to pay its liabilities if it must remain in
Nigeria otherwise we won't miss it if it desires to go".
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