Imagine trying to call a friend, family or business partner who uses an MTN line with your Glo line only to get the response “Dear subscriber you are not allowed to call this number” At first you will be like, I am out of network coverage, am I dialling the wrong number, or am I out of airtime? If after confirming everything is fine but you are still unable to make a call; many more possibilities will continue to flood your mind until you read this:
The telecommunication industry in Nigeria has four major players: MTN, Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile. The South African-owned MTN is the foremost with the largest market share, followed by Airtel, then Globacom which is owned by an indigenous company and 9mobile which is the latest and has the least market share.
The National Telecommunication regulatory body NCC on Monday via the office of the Public Affairs Department disclosed that Globacom subscribers may be unable to make calls to MTN subscribers soon, due to the non-settlement of interconnect charges.
It stated that the commission consented partial authorization for the disconnection of Globacom from MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.
The notice partly reads, “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 disclosed that upon 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.”
It added, “The partial disconnection, however, will allow in-bound calls to the Globacom network.”
If Globacom fails to do the needful after 10 days of this notice, we might experience a situation that is the first of its kind in our telecommunication landscape. What this invariably implies is that Glo subscribers will only be allowed to receive calls from MTN lines but won’t be allowed to put calls through.
With no atom of doubts, if this looming situation is not averted, businesses, families and friends will have a very hard time communicating via these affected service providers. We pray this situation is nipped in the board in the coming days before it escalates.
