The inability for Globacom subscribers to call MTN lines is imminent due to unsettled interconnect charges, as disclosed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in a recent public notice signed by Director Reuben Muoka.
The NCC partially approved MTN’s request to disconnect Globacom due to the unpaid fees, stating that Globacom had been given the chance to present its case.
Despite this, the NCC found Globacom lacking sufficient justification for non-payment.
Following this notice, after a 10-day period, Globacom users won’t be able to make outgoing calls to MTN but will still receive incoming calls.
This issue echoes a prior incident in 2019 when MTN briefly disconnected Glo subscribers over a N4bn debt.
The telecom regulator had previously sanctioned disconnections over mounting interconnect debts in 2018, which totaled approximately N165bn across the industry.
Interconnect charges, representing the fees telecom operators pay for calls ending on different networks, have led to a dispute between MTN and Glo, with the latter owing around N6bn according to an MTN source. Despite efforts to reach Glo for comment, no response has been received yet.
As of August 2023, Glo’s network hosted 61.39 million mobile subscriptions, all of which, as per the new NCC notice, will lose the ability to call MTN lines starting January 18, 2024.
