Etisalat Nigeria has brought a legal action against MTN Nigeria and Visafone Limited, challenging MTN’s use of the 800MHZ spectrum following the acquisition of Visafone. Industry sources say Etisalat is worried MTN is turning into a monopoly.
Etisalat Nigeria says it believes that the use of the 800MHz spectrum to deploy broadband services ahead of its competitors, particularly those who prior to MTN’s purchase of Visafone, held similar spectrum bands as MTN, will further entrench MTN’s dominance in the Nigerian telecoms sector.
“We have in addition 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,” the statement read.
The case is already in court, as such the company states that it is restrained from commenting further on the matter.
A few weeks ago, the management of MTN, confirmed the completion of the acquisition of Visafone, the last surviving CDMA company in Nigeria, leaving Nigerians with no alternative to GSM.
Stakeholders have since expressed worry about the lack of alternative competition and fact that the four major GSM telecom operators have dominated the Nigerian mobile market and are therefore prone to monopoly of the telecom industry.
Some are of the view that this is the reason why some of the operators are quick to flout orders from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and even the issuance of a huge fine carries very little or no weight as deadlines have been missed and re-fixed time and time again.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Garba Danbatta admitted recently during an international press conference in Lagos that the federal government made a big mistake in the sale of Visafone which was the only Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) company left in the country.
