Network Beef!!! Etisalat Sues MTN Over Visafone Acquisition

Etisalat Nigeria has sued MTN Nigeria and Visafone Ltd,
challenging MTN’s use of the 800megahertz (MHZ)
spectrum following the acquisition of Visafone.
Etisalat said it considered the action necessary to prevent
the use of the spectrum by MTN at this time, as it will
entrench the dominance of MTN in the retail data
services market.
“You will recall that MTN Nigeria was declared
dominant by the Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC) in 2013 and remains dominant in the wholesale
leased line and retail voice markets.
The use of the 800MHz spectrum to deploy broadband
services ahead of its competitors, particularly those who
prior to MTNs purchase of Visafone, held similar
spectrum bands as MTN, will further entrench MTN’s
dominance in the Nigerian telecommunications sector,”
Etisalat said in a statement confirmed by its Head of
Media, Chineze Amanfo, yesterday.
The telco said it had, in addition to the legal action and
in line with Section 86 of the Nigerian Communications
Act, 2003, engaged the NCC to understand the basis of its
decision to approve the acquisition.
“As you are aware, the matter is already in court as
such, we are restrained from commenting further on
the matter,” the telco added.
MTN had sued the Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC) over the imposition of N780billion fine on it by the
regulator for harbouring some 5.2million pre-registered
subscriber identity module (SIM) cards on its network in
violation of extant rules.