The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted approval to MTN Nigeria to disconnect Exchange Telecommunications Limited from its network.
According to a public notice issued by the telecom regulator on Friday, the disconnection notice followed Exchange Telecoms’ failure to settle its interconnect charges.
Exchange Telecoms facilitates interconnection of calls and data traffic locally and internationally and it is currently connected to all the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to do that.
This disconnection means that the Exchange company would no longer be able to pass MTN calls and data traffic to other networks, but the NCC said MTN would switch to alternative channels after the disconnection.
No justification for indebtedness
While noting that Exchange was notified of the application for disconnection by MTN and given the opportunity to comment and state its case, NCC said the company had no reason not to pay.
“The Commission, having examined the application and circumstances surrounding the indebtedness, determined that Exchange does not have sufficient reason for non-payment of the interconnect charges.
“The public is, therefore, requested to take notice that: The Commission has approved the Disconnection of Exchange to MTN in accordance with Section 100 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 and the Guidelines on Procedure for Granting Approval to Disconnect Telecommunications Operators, 2012.
At the expiration of 5 (Five) days from the date of this notice, MTN will discontinue passing voice and data traffic through Exchange and will, thereafter, utilise alternative channels in interconnecting with other Network Service Providers. Please note that this disconnection will subsist until otherwise determined by the Commission,” NCC stated in the notice signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Reuben Muoka.
What you should know
Earlier this year, the NCC issued a similar notice of disconnection regarding MTN and Globacom. In that case, MTN was granted approval to implement a partial disconnection of Globacom over its refusal to pay interconnect debt.
Globacom was given a 10-day pre-disconnection notice. However, at the expiration of the 10 days, the Commission announced that the two MNOs had reached an agreement and there was no longer any need for disconnection.
Interconnect rate is the price that telecommunications operators pay each other for calls terminating on their networks.
Exchange Telecoms, on its part, acts as an intermediary between the telecom operators to connect their calls and data traffic and collect charges, part of which is to be paid to the networks on which the traffic is terminating.
Exchange Telecoms on its website claims it is the only carrier currently transiting international calls originating from all the MNO networks in Nigeria to A-Z destinations abroad.
The company said it terminates over 100 million international minutes into Nigeria monthly and transits outbound calls from Nigeria to all locations worldwide.
