The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that starting from January 18, GLO subscribers will be barred from calling MTN lines. The issue stems from the non-settlement of interconnect charges, which are fees telecom companies pay when calls end on each other’s networks.
NCC made this directive public on Monday in a notice signed by its Director, Public Affairs Department, Reuben Muoka. The commission stated that it had granted partial approval for the disconnection of Globacom from MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.
The notice reads in part, “Globacom was notified of the application made by MTN and was given the opportunity to comment and state its case. The commission, having examined the application and circumstances surrounding the indebtedness, determined that Globacom does not have sufficient or justifiable reason for non-payment of the interconnect charges.”
The NCC added that at the expiration of 10 days from the date of this notice, “subscribers of Globacom will no longer be able to make calls to MTN but will be able to receive calls.” This means that GLO users will only be able to receive calls from MTN subscribers.
This echoed a 2019 incident when NCC directed MTN to temporarily cut off Glo users for owing N4bn. Glo currently owes around N6bn for connection fees, according to a source from MTN. GLO has yet to comment on this notice, which, if effected, will largely inconvenience its over 61.39 million mobile subscribers and result in a potential loss of customers.
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