MTN Nigeria, other mobile companies fined by regulator for missing quality goals

The Nigerian telecommunications regulator the NCC fined the three largest mobile operators N647.5 million ($4 million) and toughened penalties in a move that shows waning tolerance for poor service in Africa’s largest mobile market.

MTN Group Ltd., the Johannesburg-based market leader, and Bharti Airtel Ltd. are to pay N185 million each, while  Globacom Ltd. has been fined N277.5 million for not meeting quality standards in January, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in a statement yesterday. 

They are prohibited from selling new SIM cards during March, the first time a fine includes this punishment, according to Tony Ojobo, the regulator’s director of public affairs.

Nigeria had 156 million mobile-phone subscriptions as of October 2013, with user numbers expected to grow to more than 200 million in 2017, London-based research company Informa Telecoms & Media estimates.