Globacom has been granted a 21-day grace period to settle and pay the outstanding interconnect fees owed to MTN. The interconnect fees, an amount charged by telecom companies for calls terminating on their network, had led to a potential disconnection of Globacom’s subscribers by MTN.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced in a press statement that an agreement had been reached between the parties to resolve all outstanding issues. The commission expressed its expectation that both MTN and Globacom would successfully address the matter within the stipulated 21-day period.
On January 8, the NCC had issued a disconnection notice to Globacom, granting MTN the authority to disconnect Glo subscribers due to several years of unpaid interconnect fees. Reports suggest that Globacom owes approximately ₦6 billion ($6.7 million) in fees to MTN. The standard interconnect fee for local calls in Nigeria is ₦4.30k per minute.
Had the disconnection proceeded as planned, Glo’s 61.39 million subscribers would have been unable to call MTN users. However, MTN users would still have retained the ability to reach Glo users.
Despite the looming disconnection, Glo vehemently denied any claims of outstanding interconnect fees owed to MTN. An unnamed Glo official, quoted by the Daily Trust, stated, “We do not owe MTN any interconnect charges.” The dispute over interconnect fees has a lengthy history, spanning over 15 years, with multiple instances of MTN threatening to disconnect Glo. In 2019, MTN carried out a five-day disconnection of Globacom from its network, compelling Glo to settle around ₦2.6 billion in owed interconnect fees out of a total ₦4.4 billion. Airtel had also issued similar threats of disconnection during that period.
The recent agreement and grace period provided by the NCC offer a window of opportunity for both telecom giants to resolve their differences and ensure uninterrupted services for their subscribers. The outcome of the ongoing negotiations will be closely watched as it could significantly impact the dynamics of the Nigerian telecom sector.
