Nigerian Communications Commission has said it has set a November 16 deadline for South African mobile giant MTN to pay a $5.2 billion fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM cards.
“The deadline set for the payment of the fine is November 16,” Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the spokesperson Tony Ojobo .
“The key issue is if MTN breached the law or not. Certainly, there was a breach. And if there is a breach, we will apply the law.”
In August the NCC issued a directive to mobile telecoms companies operating in Nigeria to deactivate all unregistered SIM cards within seven days or face severe sanctions.
MTN missed the deadline to deactivate its 5.1 million unregistered subscribers, prompting a 200,000-naira ($1,000) fine for each unregistered SIM. The penalty saw the company’s shares crash on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and raised questions about the renewal of its licence in Nigeria next year if the fine goes unpaid.
MTN had more than 62.8 million subscribers in Nigeria by the second quarter of this year
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