The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has frowned at some mobile operators for various infractions of its regulations, including violation of the directive on tariffs as well as failure to abide by the ban on promotions.
In a report on its monitoring activities in the second quarter of the year, the regulatory agency accused MTN Nigeria Communications Limited of continued violation of its anti-competition directive.
The NCC had asked MTN to collapse the different charges that obtained when its subscribers call within the network and other networks.
According to the regulatory agency, the directive became imperative because of MTN’s dominant operator status.
It also accused MTN and Globacom of violating directives banning the networks from promotions as a result of their failure to meet quality of service prescriptions.
The report stated, “Consistent with Section 89 of the Nigerian Communication Act, 2003, which mandates the commission to monitor all significant matters relating to the performance of all licensed telecoms service providers, the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department has developed monitoring strategies to prosecute the above mandate and achieve the commission’s objectives of fair competition, ethical market practices and optimal quality of service in the Nigerian telecoms industry.
“In 2013, the commission carried out a determination of dominance position in the various segments of the Nigerian telecommunications market. That study resulted in the declaration of MTN Nigeria Communication Limited as the dominant operator in the mobile voice segment of the market.
“Consequently, the commission placed certain obligations on MTN Nigeria with effect from May 2013. These include amongst others: Not to offer any differential pricing in its on-net and off-net mobile voice service.
“Hence, MTN Nigeria Communication Limited was directed to collapse its on-net and off-net tariff. The directive became necessary to promote fair competition, avoid any potential failure of the Nigerian telecoms market and improve quality of service.
“Also, in February, 2014, following the failure of MTN Nigeria Communication Limited, Airtel Networks Limited and Globacom Nigeria Limited to meet the various Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators, the commission placed a ban on any promotion or bonus offer on these networks until further notice.”
The report added, “Our recent monitoring of compliance with the above regulatory obligations revealed various cases of glaring violations of both the dominance obligations and the ban on promotions by MTN Nigerian Communications Limited.
“Following the commission’s findings, MTN Nigeria Communication Limited was invited to provide its explanations for the observed violations. However, the explanations by MTN Communications Nigerian Limited were considered and found to be unacceptable.
“Consequently, the commission issued a final warning to MTN Nigeria Communications Limited and directed as follows: MTN should forthwith collapse the on-net and off-net tariff on its network and strictly comply with all obligations placed on MTN under the 2013 Declaration of Dominance; MTN should notify the commission of compliance with the Act within 10 days of receipt of the directive; MTN should forthwith discontinue and withdraw all unapproved promotions, including but not limited to the MTN 100 per cent daily on-net promo, MTN 200 per cent recharge bonus, on-net bonus SMS promo, and MTN all day WOW promo.” – Punch.
