The Nigerian Communications Commission has extended the deadline for MTN Nigeria to pay a $5.2 billion fine but will not lower the amount for the company it accuses of routinely flouting regulations.
NCC spokesman, Tony Ojobo, said the fine was the second imposed on MTN in two months over refusal to deactivate unregistered SIM cards.
When all four Nigerian mobile phone service providers missed an August 11 deadline, they were fined amounts from $19,000, for Airtel, to $511,000 for MTN, Ojobo said in a statement. Only MTN failed to pay, he said.
When an enforcement team audited MTN from September 2-4, the company admitted it still had 5.2 million unregistered SIM cards active on its network, the statement said. Other companies had complied.
“They (MTN) have always been flouting regulations,” Ojobo told The Associated Press.
His statement said: “The fine remains but the appeal and other engagements with MTN may affect the payment deadline.”
Institutional investors have complained the fine is punitive and warned it could deter investment in Nigeria, but the regulator’s statement said “sanctions are the last resort after all overtures fail but this does not in any way undermine industry standards and the interest of investors.”
MTN Group had on Monday announced it won a respite on the payment of the $5.2 billion fine which its share price plummeting and led to the resignation of chief executive Sifiso Dabengwa.
The deadline for the fine to be paid was November 16, but the company announced that the NCC had agreed that it will not be payable until the end of negotiations entered into by acting executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko, who has taken on Dabengwa’s role for six months.
“Shareholders are advised that the executive chairman of the company, Mr. Phuthuma Nhleko, has personally met with the Nigerian authorities to continue the ongoing discussions with them regarding the fine,” the statement said.
“These discussions include matters of non-compliance and the remedial measures that may have to be adopted to address this.
“Shareholders are advised that the Nigerian authorities have, without prejudice, agreed that the imposed fine will not be payable until the negotiations have been concluded.”
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is MTN group’s largest market where it had over 62.8 million subscribers by the second quarter of this year.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has launched an investigation into MTN for “possible insider trading” before the company announced it had been hit by the fine.
The probe could result in South Africa’s bourse operator slapping MTN with another hefty penalty or result in criminal charges.
Despite the furore, NCC this month extended MTN Nigeria’s operating license until 2021 for $94.2 million.
