Telecommunications giants, MTN escaped bankruptcy through the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari, who reduced the fine imposed on the South African company for failing to disconnect mobile lines not registered by the firm.
Minister of Communication, Mr. AbdulRaheem Shittu, said this in a chat in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the weekend, however, hinted that the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) would start sanctioning any telecom companies that fleece customers through unsolicited messages.
Shittu said the fine imposed on MTN was huge and that its strict enforcement would have crippled the company. This, he said, could have resulted in loss of jobs, investments and unpleasant consequences for the economy.
Telecommunications
giants, MTN escaped bankruptcy through the intervention of President Muhammadu
Buhari, who reduced the fine imposed on the South African company for failing
to disconnect mobile lines not registered by the firm.
Minister
of Communication, Mr. AbdulRaheem Shittu, in a chat with The Guardian in
Ibadan, Oyo State, at the weekend, however, hinted that the Nigeria
Communications Commission (NCC) would start sanctioning any telecom companies
that fleece customers through unsolicited messages.
Shittu
said the fine imposed on MTN was huge and that its strict enforcement would
have crippled the company. This, he said, could have resulted in loss of jobs,
investments and unpleasant consequences for the economy.
“President Buhari saved MTN from bankruptcy, because of his intervention in reducing drastically the hefty fine imposed on the telecom giant.
“If
as telecommunication operators, there are laws that forbids you from selling
GSM lines without registering them and there are also rules that proclaim
certain amount as fines for doing so (in this case, N200, 000 per each
unregistered line) and you still go ahead to sell millions of lines after the
fact, you should be ready to face the music.
“It
is true that Nigerians have bought MTN shares, a lot of Nigerians are employed
by MTN and that a lot of people might suffer due to the loss posted last week
by the company because of the fine. It however, doesn’t mean we have to
tolerate their negligence.
With
the president’s gesture at saving MTN, the ministers said companies operating
in the sector should show commitment and abide by the rules put in place by
government.
“Even
as minister of communications, they send unsolicited messages to me daily and
they would even advise me, just like other Nigerians to indicate if I don’t
want these annoying messages and services. They still charge me, just like
millions of Nigerians, even when I unsubscribe to these services.
Shittu
said “Let me say this, the NCC is compiling a list of complaints by Nigerians
against the erring companies and at the appropriate time, they shall summarily
sanction all the telecommunication companies involved in these acts.”
“I
am hereby advising Nigerians, who are daily subjected to these annoying
messages to lay their complaints through a toll free number, 622, which opens
from Monday –Friday, from 8-30 a.m to 5pm, for the purpose of receiving
complaints by the NCC,” the minister said.
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