MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, recently discussed the long-standing interconnection debt dispute between MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Globacom Limited.
Recall that the NCC had, on January 8, 2024, published a pre-disconnection notice informing subscribers of the approval granted MTN Nigeria Communications Plc to commence the phased disconnection of Globacom Limited with effect from January 18, 2024, due to a long-standing interconnection debt dispute between the parties.
Toriola said, “Suffice it to say that we have between the NCC and the CBN, the most developed regulatory bodies who arbitrate on such matters and whatever we do in that dispute or that discourse will be in line with what the NCC dictates.
The NCC is very competent in addressing such issues; they’ve come out with authorisation for disconnection, which has been put on hold to allow addressing these issues. But MTN will always act professionally and competently, and we will not do anything that our licensing conditions or the regulator hasn’t authorised.”
While probing further on industry dynamics and the company’s origin, Karl Toriola reiterated that the ICT company is solely Nigerian. “We are a Nigerian company registered in Nigeria with Nigerian shareholders. If you look at our leadership cadre, you’ll see that the company is 90% led at the very top level by Nigerians.
“We have a very seasoned board of Nigerian and some international directors. We’ve grown to this size because we’ve done the right things at the right time. You cannot force customers to choose with their wallets,” he added.
The ICT company remains committed to integrating digital competencies and prioritising customer satisfaction whilst operating with the highest compliance to industry standards.
