Nigerian telecommunications provider Globacom, has denied allegations on Tuesday that it was indebted for MTN interconnect charges.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) received confirmation from a reliable source within Globacom that the disputed N1.6 billion had been paid in full.
This runs counter to a pre-disconnection notice that was made public and appeared on the Nigerian Communication Commission's (NCC) Twitter feed on Monday, January 8. The notification, which Director of Public Affairs Reuben Muoka signed, mentioned Glo's persistent inability to pay outstanding obligations despite resolution attempts.
It declared that Globacom did not have any substantial or legitimate excuses for not paying the interconnect fees after examining the application and the circumstances surrounding the debt.
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 representative stated that before determining that the telco owed MTN, a thorough fact-checking procedure had to have been carried out.
“We are not owing MTN any interconnect charges,” the Glo official said.
The official went on to say that Glo broke the monopoly of the other international businesses doing business in Nigeria by being the first telecom provider to implement the pay per second method of billing.
According to the Glo official, the report against the fully indigenous telecoms business is untrue.
