ICT: MTN to list share on NSE, 9mobile to get new owner
Takeover of 9mobile
The first big event that will probably shake the telecom sector in 2018 is the takeover of 9mobile by a new owner, who may be announced this week.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) failed to announce the preferred bidder last week due to the “holidays”.
The NCC had said the December 31 deadline for the company’s handover to the preferred bidder was sacrosanct.
Globacom Limited, Bharti Airtel, Smile Telecoms Holdings, Helios Investment Partners LLP and Teleology Holdings Limited were all in the race to buy 9mobile, the Nigeria’s fourth largest telecommunications provider, which ran into financial problem with some banks in July.
An official who didn’t want his name mentioned had told Daily Trust on Thursday that he was “optimistic 9mobile may get new owner Friday or latest next week.”
The five shortlisted companies were selected through a process conducted by
Telcos start spectrum trading
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said telecom operators would start to trade in spectrum beginning from this year.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta revealed this after the review of the submissions made by stakeholders on the draft spectrum trading guidelines late last year.
The whole idea of spectrum trading among the operators is to make the scarce resource available to serious investors for the delivery of qualitative telecom services, according to NCC.
MTN to pay N110bn to FG’s coffers
The Nigeria’s largest GSM network, MTN Nigeria will continue the payment of the fine slammed on it in 2015 for failure to disconnecting unregistered SIM cards.
The South African company is expected to pay N55billion on or before March 31, 2018, and another N55bn on or before December 31, 2018.
The fine is due for payment in six instalments over three years, starting from 2016, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
MTN, which operates in 20 countries, had set aside $600 million to pay the fine.
Negotiations on payment of the fine lasted eight months, which saw both parties going in and out of the courts.
NCC had said by the terms of agreement, the money would be made in six tranches: N30 billion into NCC’s treasury single account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in July, 2016 (paid). Other dates and amounts of the agreements were: March 31, 2017 (N30Billion) which has also been paid; March 31, 2018 (N55Billion), December 31, 2018 (N55Billion), March 31, 2019 (N55Billion) and May 31, 2019 (N55Billion).
Broadband target to hit 30 %
The Federal Government said it would achieve the broadband penetration target of 30 per cent by December 2018. The penetration level is currently stands at 24%.
MTN to list on NSE
Come September this year, MTN Nigeria will list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). This will give more Nigerians opportunity to share in the ownership of the company.
MTN Nigeria was fined $5.2 billion three years ago for failing to deactivate more than five million unregistered SIM cards, but the fine was reduced in a settlement that paved the way for the company to list its subsidiary on the NSE.
Infracos license
To deepen broadband penetration, NCC said more infrastructure companies would be licensed this year.
Operators continue battle may
The cold war between the operators of Value Added Services (VAS) and the Nigerian Communications on the one hand (NCC) and the telecom operators on the other over long-codes and revenue sharing formula may linger this year.
A value added service (VAS) is any service other than voice calls offered to subscribers via a mobile network. They operate on shortcodes and ride on the back big mobile operators to deliver their services. The most popular VAS is probably caller ring back tunes.