Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has explained that it shifted the deadline for payment of the $5.2 billion (N1.04 trillion) fine it imposed on MTN Nigeria in order not to kill the communication giant but at the same time, protect the country’s interest.
The regulator was emphatic that MTN will be made to pay the fine just as the other mobile operators which failed to comply with its SIM deactivation deadline did.
Apart from MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat were sanctioned in August for non-compliance with the directive to deactivate the improperly registered SIM cards.
MTN was fined N102.2 million, Globacom N7.4 million, Etisalat N7 million and Airtel N3.8 million.
A statement by NCC explained that national interest was paramount because when lives are lost, they cannot be replaced.
Consequently, as a responsible regulator, it will not stand by and watch rules of engagement being flouted by any operator.
Simultaneously, its smart regulation for the oversight of the industry invariably weighs the implications of sanctions as appropriate last resort after all overtures had failed.
Thus, NCC’s sanctions against erring parties do not in any way either undermine industry standards nor the interest of investors, it said.
Mr Tony Ojobo, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, said in a statement on Monday that all the other telecoms firms except MTN paid the fines in August.
NCC subsequently slammed the N1.04tr fine on MTN for its deliberate refusal to deactivate its 5.1 million unregistered lines.
NCC confirmed that MTN has admitted infractions on their part, and so NCC, wearing a human face, therefore decided to tactically agree to a shift in the deadline to allow discussions on the plea made by MTN Nigeria, but it insists that the fine must be paid.
“The Commission has acknowledged this and is looking into their plea without any prejudice to the fine. The fine remains but the appeal and other engagements with MTN may affect the payment deadline,” NCC said in the statement.
Ojobo explained that the fine imposed on MTN was the second in two months after the operators were given a seven-day ultimatum to deactivate all unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards. While others complied, MTN did not.
On August 4, 2015, at a meeting of all the representatives of the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) with NCC, major security challenges through preregistered, unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards topped the agenda after which operators were given the ultimatum to deactivate all within seven days.
On August 14, 2015, three days after the ultimatum expired, NCC carried out a network audit, and while other operators complied with the directive to deactivate the improperly registered SIM cards, MTN showed no sign of compliance at all.
NCC explained that MTN concedes violation of Section 20 (1) of Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011 which states: “Any licencee which activates or fails to deactivate a subscription medium in violation of any provision of these Regulations is liable to a penalty of N200,000 for each unregistered but activated subscription medium.
“The fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN Nigeria by NCC was done in the interest of the public which has been at the receiving end of security challenges,” said the statement.
Consequent upon the overwhelming evidence of non-compliance and obvious disregard to the rule of engagement by MTN, NCC has no choice but to impose the sanctions.
“Based on the report of the Compliance Audit Team, an Enforcement Team which visited MTN from September 2-4, 2015, wherein MTN admitted that the team confirmed that 5.2 million improperly registered SIM cards were still left active on their network; hence, a contravention of the Regulations was established.
“Consistent with the Commission’s enforcement process, MTN was, by a letter dated, October 5, 2015, given notice to state why it should not be sanctioned in line with the regulations for failure to deactivate improperly registered SIM cards that were found to be active at the time of the enforcement team’s visit on September 15, 2015,” said NCC.
On October 19, 2015, the Commission received and reviewed MTN’s response and found no convincing evidence why it should not be sanctioned for the established violations.
Accordingly, through a letter dated, October 20, 2015, the Commission conveyed appropriate sanctions to MTN to pay the sum of N200,000 only for each of the 5.2 million improperly registered SIM cards.
The statement read in part: “In order to ensure proper identification of telephone subscribers with their biometric data and in line with international best practices, the Commission came up with a framework for the registration of telephone subscribers in Nigeria – NCC Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011.
“The above Regulations were developed with the full participation of all key industry stakeholders including all Mobile Network Operators (MNO) in 2011. The commission on its part has a statutory responsibility to monitor and enforce compliance to the rules, more so, when national security is at stake.”
The statement explained that national interest was paramount because when lives are lost, they cannot be replaced.
“As a responsible regulator, the NCC will not stand by and watch rules and regulations for engagement being flouted by any operator. The commission has adopted a smart regulation in its oversight function in the industry, hence it has always weighed the implications of sanctions; that is why it had to place the appropriate sanction accordingly,” the regulator said in the statement.
According to it, sanctions are the last resort after all overtures had failed, adding, however, that sanctioning the erring parties does not in any way undermine industry standards and the interest of investors.
-Leadership