A
decision to transfer Visafone licence to MTN has not yet been taken. What has been approved in the transaction is
100% shareholding not licence.
NCC
final approval to the changes in shareholding of Visafone Communications was
taken by virtue of section 38 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.
Section 38 of the Act states that “the grant of a licence shall be personal to
the licencee and the licence shall not be operated by, assigned, sub-licenced
or transferred to any other party unless the prior written approval of the
Commission has been granted”.
This
is contrary to the speculation in a section of the media that the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) the regulatory agency for telecommunication had
foreclosed the release of the spectrum held by Visafone to MTN.
This
clarification has become necessary in order to allay the fears in some quarters
that the frequency had been withheld by the Commission.
A
statement signed by Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said
clearly “the Commission is yet to meet to take a decision on the application by
Visafone to transfer its licence to MTN.
The NCC has only approved the shareholding structure by 100% and not
transfer of licence”.
Specifically,
Visafone Communications Limited with a Universal Access Service Licence (UASL)
– deploying Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology applied to the NCC
for an approval to effect a change in its shareholding structure by
transferring 100% of its shares to MTN Nigeria.
Having
met all the preliminary requirements for grant of approval for change in
shareholding structure, the NCC in line with its established procedure granted
an Approval-In-Principle to Visafone Communications Limited, subject to
fulfilment of conditions to transfer 100% of its shares to MTN Nigeria.
Having
fulfilled the conditions stipulated in the “Approval-In-Principle”, the NCC, in
line with its procedure granted a “Final-Approval” to Visafone for the change
in its shareholding structure.
Thereafter,
Visafone applied for approval to transfer its licence to MTN. The NCC has
written to Visafone, clearly stating that a decision was yet to be taken on the
transfer of Visafone licence to MTN.
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