Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that it would soon begin dialogue with MTN for an out-of-court settlement over the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on the telecommunications company for not deactivating 5.1 million unregistered subscribers.
The executive vice chairman, Umar Garba Danbatta, during his first world press conference on Wednesday said that the NCC’s lawyers on Tuesday evening officially communicated to the telecommunications regulator the decision of the presiding judge, Mohammed Idris, handling the suit instituted by MTN against NCC to grant both parties 60 days leave to discuss for an out-of-court settlement.
“I have been reliably informed by our counsel handling case that MTN wants to resolve this matter out of court. Our lawyers, yesterday evening, informed us through a letter that the MTN wants to settle out of court.The intention is not to kill MTN. We would like the industry to continue. We would like it to be vibrant and I think this is a matter that needs to be resolved amicably and we are working towards that.”
NCC had in October 2015 sanctioned MTN for flouting its directive by not deactivating unregistered subscribers, which is in Sections 19 and 20 of the SIM Registration Regulations 2011.
MTN only made a partial attempt to bar unregistered subscribers in selected areas over a few days in September 2015. On Thursday October 22, 2015, the NCC reviewed the registration records of all the telecom operators and took into consideration their compliance records.
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