Sequel to the news making rounds in the news that the Nigerian telecommunications company Globacom Ltd is owing MTN telecommunications company interconnect charges. The company on Tuesday came out to refute claims that it owed MTN any outstanding payment.
This release by Glo Nigeria hence contradicts a public pre-disconnection notice posted on the Nigerian Communication Commission’s (NCC) Twitter page on Monday, January 8th stating that the telecom giant may risk being barred from calling MTN lines if the outstanding is not being paid after 10 days of the public notice.
The report which was signed by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs Reuben Muoka after he commission reviewed the application filed by MTN relating to the indebtedness, stated that Globacom lacked the significant or justifiable reasons for failing to pay the interconnect charges.
Part of the public notice read: “All subscribers are requested to take notice that the commission has approved the partial disconnection of Globacom to MTN.
“This is in accordance with Section 100 of the Nigerian Communications Act (2003) and paragraph nine of the Guidelines on Procedure for Granting Approval to Disconnect Telecommunications Operators (2012).
“At the expiration of 10 days from Jan. 8, 2024, subscribers of Globacom will no longer be able to make calls to MTN but will be able to receive calls”
The Glo official said a proper cross checking of facts should have been done before concluding that the telecom company was owing MTN.
“We are not owing MTN any interconnect charges,” the Glo official said.
The official added that Globacom has paid the disputed N1.6 billion without issue. The indebtedness report against the indigenous telecommunications company is erroneous.
In conclusion, I thank God it all started in the news and ended in the news. The aftermath of this development if allowed to fruition will devastate innocent subscribers, destabilize the market and mean very bad business for both the telecom companies and their users.
I trust refuting the indebtedness report translates to the supposed debts being cleared and the disconnection threat been stalled. I hope it also means that subscribers need not bother about the disconnection date.
As we look forward to developments in the coming days, I hope your guess will be the same as mine.