The Nigerian communications Commission is seeking a court order to shut down the operations of GSM companies in Abuja over failure to pay the N1.17bn penalty recently imposed on them.

A reliable source at the NCC, who spoke with our correspondent under the condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said the regulatory body planned to shut down the administrative offices of the affected network operators after securing the court order.

The NCC had recently penalised the four GSM companies operating in the country, to the tune of N1.17bn, for poor quality of service rendered to subscribers in March and April, 2012. Though MTN was requested to pay N360m; Airtel, N270m; Etisalat, N360m; and Globacom, N180m, they had failed to meet the May 25, 2012 deadline. As such, the affected operators have been incurring additional N2.5m per day as penalty for as long as the contravention persists.

For failure to pay the stipulated fine, however, the source said the NCC would get the court order and shut down the administrative offices of the errant operators.

He explained that it was not in the attitude of the NCC to shut down base stations in case of infraction on the part of any operator because such an action would have far-reaching implications on the subscribers.

When contacted, NCC Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said, “NCC is weighing all the options that are available to it as a regulator. A regulator is a regulator. NCC is a lawful organisation and we will always ensure that we are on the side of the law in anything we do. There are certain decisions that are strategic to us and we don’t like talking about them before taking actions.”

A senior official of one of the affected telcos, who pleaded anonymity, said the action, if taken, would affect the country’s over 99 million subscribers as well as the stability of the industry.

Reacting to the assertion that NCC does not shut down base stations, the source said shutting down the administrative offices would have a ripple effect on the smooth running of the base stations too.

“If NCC shuts down our offices in Abuja, who will direct the field offices maintaining our base stations?”, he asked.

“And if the diesel runs out of the generators serving the base stations engines, who will refill them?,” he asked again.

“The base stations will go down and it will affect the over 99 million subscribers, ” he said.

The official said the affected telecoms operators had hub sites in Abuja that could serve as many as 60 other base stations that could be spread across three or four states.

“If they go down, you can’t predict the adverse effect that could have on the subscribers. Therefore, the plan to shut down our offices is disruptive to service and disruptive to our business,” he said.

According to him, it is not as if operators don’t want to pay the fine but they want the NCC to reconsider the matter considering the fact that operators will always find it difficult to meet the Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators set by the NCC, owing to an unfriendly operating environment.

He further said, “We are not saying that we want a regulator that is always on our side. We are only asking for understanding from the regulator who should understand the challenges operators contend with every day.”

Speaking on the matter, the President, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said shutting down telcos’ operating offices could destabilise the industry.

“Stakeholders are meeting and there has been progress. Parties have exhibited good faith in the matter. However, considering what we have gone through in the past week, I do not expect anyone to take any step that will affect the stability of the industry, not the NCC, not the operators and not even our association. However, if it happens, we will make our position known to the public,” he said.






http://www.punchng.com/news/n1-7bn-fine-ncc-seeks-court-order-to-shut-telcos/

Rubbish..


Shut them down and see an Occupy Nigeria protest that will topple the incumbent regime...

These people think say Nigerians na mumu..

Play, with fuel, you see small fire... Play with UNILAG, we do small.. Now play with our BB signal and person must die..

Thieves. Those telecommunication companies should call their bluff.

This is upper corruption.
Can these monies get to subscribers.
Why not ensure that the fine is paid directly to users of these networks.
What parameter did NCC use to measure the quality of service rendered by these operators.
All these fines will fall back on users like us at the end of the whole drama.
How many of the executives of NCC buy recharge cards?
...more money for satisfied group ...more burden for less privilege.
Man Made Money Money Make Man Mad

miteolu: This is upper corruption.
Can these monies get to subscribers.
Why not ensure that the fine is paid directly to users of these networks.
What parameter is NCC used to measure the quality of service rendered by these operators.
All these fines will fall back on users like us at the end of the whole drama.

True

The best thing they can do is give us two months of free BIS and some bonus recharge card, if they are asked to pay any money then the NCC wants to scam and later they will say Nigeria is Corrupt ? stupid people

OK, we get it. NCC needs to raise some cash.

I understand that GSM operators should be held accountable for their services but is this really the best route to take?

Thank you for sharing and good luck with the thread.[img]http://www.lzxin.info/g.php[/img]

Thieves in Power....

The only Progress Nigeria has made in 50years is Telecomunications and Mumu NCC is talking of shutting them down..mscheeew backward gorrillas

Is it NCC that was given poor network? Why dont they compel the gsm operators to refund the money to subcribers in the form of call credit instead of pay to their theifin accounts?? Moreover there are other sanctions that could be taken against them and not seeking to shut down their operations...

FOOLISH DULL PEOPLE IN POWER...Mscheew..

signs out

@miteolu,
This is not the first time NCC will punish those extortioners(mtn, glo, airtel ,etc)and as in the past money goes to the networks' customers, so also will it be this time around.

NCC folks should go commit suicide and go to hell. They are there for their fithy belly sake and not for subscribers. My bane is that even after all these sanctions, subscribers don't get any compensation.

They have the money,let them pay
Afterall I do not see what we the subscribers benefit from them sef.
In better countries,they make free weekends call.

The Thieving Continues unless we the youths rise up to the challenge.

Now tell me why foreign companies would want to risk investing in Nigeria!

[size=14pt]They should pay you bribe or you will take them to court! 419!! [/size]

This NCC guys are thief. What will the so called fine be used for. To improve electricity or share it to all subscribers or embezzle it as usual. Simply ask them to give Nigerians free credit worth 1000 naira each to call any number .They think we are fools.

If NCC don't have anything to do, they can go and mop the atlantic ocean for a start.

miteolu: This is upper corruption.
Can these monies get to subscribers.
Why not ensure that the fine is paid directly to users of these networks.
What parameter did NCC use to measure the quality of service rendered by these operators.
All these fines will fall back on users like us at the end of the whole drama.
How many of the executives of NCC buy recharge cards?
...more money for satisfied group ...more burden for less privilege.
Man Made Money Money Make Man Mad

u make sense!

Tyche: If NCC don't have anything to do, they can go and mop the atlantic ocean for a start.

you are not nice,



So you want them to perform magic in a country where they burn fuel per base station plus install watchman?

NCC should get PHCN to assist these guys instead of fines.
once this is achieved, the call rates will drop via competition.

NCC my toilet tissue, no be we(the subscribers) dey suffer for the high taxes you imposed on this companies. mchteeeew, abeg make we here word.

ifihearam: They have the money,let them pay
Afterall I do not see what we the subscribers benefit from them sef.
In better countries,they make free weekends call.

In those countries you dont run over 15000 20KVA diesel generators 24hrs per day and consumes over 5000 litres of diesel per month to keep up the network.
In those countries you dont battle area boys every time you need to enter your base station to maintain or refuel.
In those countries you dont battle fibre vandals causing service failures
In thise countries you dont pay multiple taxations to all the organs of government.
In thos countries you dont communities making multiple demands on your base stations.

the networks are spending billions of dollar to expand and maintain the network. the investors are the most impacted in terms of revenue loss.

My Que is d 1.3m whos gonna tke it? D customers dat use d netwrk or d NCC? Wat will dey use d money for? Plc NCC or wat ever u call ya self,givr ya self Brain.

NCC had better stop this nonsense o. Are they gonna give us the money? If they are, then OK. But if not, yawa go gas o.

.NET

the are just rabble rousers,im sure the won't temper with the network signals cos making calls is also important to them.

Another Okija: Rubbish..


Shut them down and see an Occupy Nigeria protest that will topple the incumbent regime...

These people think say Nigerians na mumu..

Play, with fuel, you see small fire... Play with UNILAG, we do small.. Now play with our BB signal and person must die..

i thought your agitations were for ginuwine reasons."BB SIGNALS"
o my world.
As per NCC opening their dirty mouths and threatening to shut down the telcos offices.let the idiots go ahead and do that now.i dont knw what they point at as their contributions towards ensuring that these service providers duly and dutifully discharge telco services to Nigerians.absolutely none.i dont knw how many countries where telcos have huge running costs higher than nigeriya.foolish idiotic ncc,all they know to do best is go on air and talk nonsense.put ur house in order first before you start bickering over non payments of penalties by the telco.if you have ever tried ncc customer care line,you'll know that they are even worse off than these gsm companies.

Another Okija: Rubbish..


Shut them down and see an Occupy Nigeria protest that will topple the incumbent regime...

These people think say Nigerians na mumu..

Play, with fuel, you see small fire... Play with UNILAG, we do small.. Now play with our BB signal and person must die..

i thought your agitations were for ginuwine reasons."BB SIGNALS"
o my world.
As per NCC opening their dirty mouths and threatening to shut down the telcos offices.let the idiots go ahead and do that now.i dont knw what they point at as their contributions towards ensuring that these service providers duly and dutifully discharge telco services to Nigerians.absolutely none.i dont knw how many countries where telcos have huge running costs higher than nigeriya.foolish idiotic ncc,all they know to do best is go on air and talk nonsense.put ur house in order first before you start bickering over non payments of penalties by the telco.if you have ever tried ncc customer care line,you'll know that they are even worse off than these gsm companies.

Another Okija: Rubbish..


Shut them down and see an Occupy Nigeria protest that will topple the incumbent regime...

These people think say Nigerians na mumu..

Play, with fuel, you see small fire... Play with UNILAG, we do small.. Now play with our BB signal and person must die..

i thought your agitations were for ginuwine reasons."BB SIGNALS"
o my world.
As per NCC opening their dirty mouths and threatening to shut down the telcos offices.let the idiots go ahead and do that now.i dont knw what they point at as their contributions towards ensuring that these service providers duly and dutifully discharge telco services to Nigerians.absolutely none.i dont knw how many countries where telcos have huge running costs higher than nigeriya.foolish idiotic ncc,all they know to do best is go on air and talk nonsense.put ur house in order first before you start bickering over non payments of penalties by the telco.if you have ever tried ncc customer care line,you'll know that they are even worse off than these gsm companies.

Wizee: My Que is d 1.3m whos gonna tke it? D customers dat use d netwrk or d NCC? Wat will dey use d money for? Plc NCC or wat ever u call ya self,givr ya self Brain.

plain and simple in ajegunle language.

Ruubbiissh they can't lock down giants firm like that if hell no go break loose

Na today we don dey hear am

Dese companies shud just bribe dem bt firstly, report d mata to sss cause its obvious dat ncc is broke,den invite nollywood camera men to film d exchange,its d reignin tin in town nw and it pays,ask otedola if u tink am lyin.