A reliable source at the NCC, who spoke with our correspondent under the condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said the regulatory body planned to shut down the administrative offices of the affected network operators after securing the court order.
The NCC had recently penalised the four GSM companies operating in the country, to the tune of N1.17bn, for poor quality of service rendered to subscribers in March and April, 2012. Though MTN was requested to pay N360m; Airtel, N270m; Etisalat, N360m; and Globacom, N180m, they had failed to meet the May 25, 2012 deadline. As such, the affected operators have been incurring additional N2.5m per day as penalty for as long as the contravention persists.
For failure to pay the stipulated fine, however, the source said the NCC would get the court order and shut down the administrative offices of the errant operators.
He explained that it was not in the attitude of the NCC to shut down base stations in case of infraction on the part of any operator because such an action would have far-reaching implications on the subscribers.
When contacted, NCC Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said, “NCC is weighing all the options that are available to it as a regulator. A regulator is a regulator. NCC is a lawful organisation and we will always ensure that we are on the side of the law in anything we do. There are certain decisions that are strategic to us and we don’t like talking about them before taking actions.”
A senior official of one of the affected telcos, who pleaded anonymity, said the action, if taken, would affect the country’s over 99 million subscribers as well as the stability of the industry.
Source
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