Telcos say NCC’s N1.3bn fine won’t hinder network expansion

Ben Uzor Jr

Erring telecommunications operators in Nigeria have dismissed speculation that payment of the N1.3 billion fine imposed on them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for rendering poor services to their respective subscribers could adversely affect their ability to expand their network infrastructure going forward. Industry analysts had earlier told Business Day that payment of the fine may slow down network expansion plans as telecoms operators’ conserves cash, in preparation for payment of the fine. Akinwale Goodluck, corporate services executive, MTN told Business Day at the weekend that payment of the fine would not in any way affect the company’s budget for network expansion this year.

“Our network modernisation and optimisation project which had been in the pipeline for several months commenced over a month ago after intensive planning. “Our CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) budget for 2012 is more than enough to deal with our network expansion plans for this year. But, we expect the federal government to quickly address the issue of right-of-way so as not slow down network build. Government at some point has made intervention for the Aviation, Maritime sector. The telecoms sector should not be excluded.”Business Day also spoke with senior executives of Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat, and they are all agreed that payment of NCC’s N1.3 billion fine would not affect their respective network expansion plans.

According to them, maintaining good quality of services was in their best interest. They further reassured subscribers that they would continue to build more capacity to deal with volume of traffic on their individual networks. Moreover, a senior executive at Airtel who pleaded anonymity told Business Day that parameters for Quality of Service (QoS) must be realigned to take into cognizance the peculiarities of Nigeria’s operating environment. The service providers,  under the auspices of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had warned that if dialogue, legal process and other options failed, they would pay the fine, but not without a cost to all stakeholders, including the country’s about 99 million subscribers.

On May 11, the NCC sanctioned MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat Nigeria, a cumulative fine of N1.17 billion for poor services on their networks for months of March and April. For 17 days running, telecoms have remained obstinate as regards payment of the initial amount of N1.17 billion, let alone daily payment of N2.5 million which has accumulated N42.5 million per telecoms operator, amounting to N170 million for the four telecoms operators. As at Monday (June 11), MTN is expected to pay a total of N400, 000, 000, while Airtel will pay the sum of N310, 000, 000. Etisalat, which was initially billed to pay N382, 500, 000, with the addition of N17, 500, 000, the company will be paying the total sum of N400, 000, 000.

Second National Operator, Globacom on the other hand, is expected to pay a total of N220, 000, 000. The grand total the four telecoms companies are to now pay will be N1, 330, 000, 000. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON at the weekend declared that operators were not shifting ground from their initial position not to pay the fine. “We are still discussing and holding our ground. The fine is inappropriate, it is an act against the facts and it does not reflect the realities of the challenges that we face as industry operators, which the regulator is very well aware of.” Tony Ojobo, director of public affairs, NCC said at the weekend that the commission would sanction defaulters if penalties were not paid, saying that since the expiration of the deadline given to service providers, none of them had made any payment.

He further added that the commission would take necessary action against them soon. Business Day had exclusively reported last week that the telecoms regulator would withdraw critical regulatory services to erring telecommunications companies if they refuse to pay the fines. “One thing the regulator does is to deny the service providers access to regulatory services. And denial of regulatory services means that you cannot get response to any request from the commission until the requirement has been fulfilled. Regulatory services include asking for additional numbers and frequency addition amongst others”, he stated. The NCC director further disclosed that an official letter had been issued to the service providers by the commission drawing their attention to the fact that they were already in default. 

First published on Business Day, 11 June, 2012