A former Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) top brass has called on Nigeria’s competition regulator to unbundle MTN Nigeria, over allegations that illegalities committed by the telecoms company have undermined competition, and made the country “a graveyard of indigenous telecoms networks.”
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Technology Times on Tuesday in Lagos, Mr. Ayoola Oke, a former special adviser at the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), wants the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to launch a probe into allegations that MTN Nigeria engages in anti-competitive practices against local telecoms companies “that are doing well,” and may compete against the dominant operator owned by South Africa’s MTN Group.
According to the telecoms lawyer, “MTN does not want the prices of telecoms services to go down. They want it to go up. All over the world, the price of telephony is going down, and that is because of technology.”
Mr. Ayoola Oke, a former special adviser at the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and Managing Partner, Ayoola Babatunde Oke & Co.
Oke: MTN Nigeria does not want price of telecoms services to go down in the country
Mr Oke, Managing Partner, Ayoola Babatunde Oke & Co, who says he has lost confidence in the ability of his former employer, NCC, to impartially regulate MTN Nigeria, says that the Federal competition regulator, FCCPC, should probe allegations that the telecoms company plans to further use the recent 50% price increase approved by the telecoms regulator to undermine competition in the local market.
According to the telecoms lawyer, “MTN does not want the prices of telecoms services to go down. They want it to go up. All over the world, the price of telephony is going down, and that is because of technology.”
Mr Oke, Managing Partner, Ayoola Babatunde Oke & Co, who says he has lost confidence in the ability of his former employer, NCC, to impartially regulate MTN Nigeria, says that the Federal competition regulator, FCCPC should wade in over allegations that the telecoms company plans to further use the recent 50% price increase approved by the telecoms regulator to undermine competition in the local market.
He explains that telecoms companies are embracing several technologies including the popular voice over internet protocol (VOIP) that have made it possible to carry traffic over the internet backbone, thereby significantly reducing the price of voice and data services.
In the midst of this technology revolution, Mr. Oke reckons that it is strange that MTN Nigeria has continued to champion calls for the increase in tariff of telecoms services in the country.
According to him, the telecoms company has set up a hub in Dubai to aggregate international traffic for MTN Nigeria, a development he is asking the Nigerian competition agency to probe over allegations that the telecoms company controlling over 51% of the local mobile phone market, is further “bleeding” the nation of foreign exchange.
“It is time to unbundle MTN Nigeria,” the telecoms lawyer says in the exclusive interview with Technology Times that you can watch here:
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