APC government and the future of MTN Nigeria
NaijaRock
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Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday January 18, 2016 at 12:16:4:
Will an APC government kill MTN Nigeria? Does the Bhari government not want MTN to continue in business? Given the ongoing disagreement between MTN Nigeria and a government body called NCC, it seems that the future OF MTN Nigeria is under a serious threat.MTN came into Nigeria in 2011 during which the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was the ruling party and led by President Olusegun Obasanjo. Over the years during which MTN became a Nigerian company, they helped spread telecommunication service to every corner in Nigeria and this helped make Nigerians more connected to each other than they ever were unlike in the past when telecommunication services were not effectively working. They made some profit and was among the few big companies that improved Nigeria's economy while at the same improving the lives of ordinary people.Some GSM companies which came about the same time that MTN Nigeria did did not all become successful as some closed shop or were taken over by newer companies but MTN was among the few that braved the odds to turn it's own case into a success story despite the fact that basic infrastructure like 24 hrs electricity was not available.It's been about 15 years already since MTN has been operating in Nigeria and a new political party is now the ruling party. It seems that the body language of the new party is not eager to encourage MTN to remain in business or remain a profitable company as the NCC has already placed a fine of over N1 trillion, a fine that could wipe out 2 years of the profit of MTN group and not just MTN Nigeria. If MTN was to pay the fine, it would really struggle to do so and may end up being bankrupt or struggle to keep running it's operations in Nigeria. Nigeria is MTN's biggest market but the fine may very well erase any revenue they've made in Nigeria for more than 5 years. A trillion Naira is much more than MTN Nigeria alone can handle and it's even a big problem the MTN as a group.MTN Nigeria was fined by the NCC for failing to deactivate unregistered SIM cards on its network within the stipulated time frame and the fine was for about 5.2 million subscribers at the rate of N200,000 ($1,003) per subscriber. How they arrived at that figure is what I don't get because I don't think they make as much as N200,000 from a Nigerian subscriber per year as profit.Some think MTN'S fine by a government agency like the NCC is politically linked since a new party has taken over and probably wants to rubbish the achievement of the former ruling party since MTN is one of their success stories in Nigeria.I agree that they have a right to fine MTN Nigeria for non compliance with their rules but I think teh fine is still way too much and the case would have been different if the PDP was still in power becasue they won't want to kill MTN.Does APC and Buhari really want to kill MTN Nigeria? I hope not and it won't be a wise thing to do since they are the biggest GSM company in Nigeria that has the most influence on Nigerians in terms of telecommunication. Stopping the operations of MTN Nigeria or nationalizing it will negatively affect the lives of majority of Nigerians who rely on MTN on a daily basis.
Will an APC government kill MTN Nigeria? Does the Bhari government not want MTN to continue in business? Given the ongoing disagreement between MTN Nigeria and a government body called NCC, it seems that the future OF MTN Nigeria is under a serious threat.MTN came into Nigeria in 2011 during which the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was the ruling party and led by President Olusegun Obasanjo. Over the years during which MTN became a Nigerian company, they helped spread telecommunication service to every corner in Nigeria and this helped make Nigerians more connected to each other than they ever were unlike in the past when telecommunication services were not effectively working. They made some profit and was among the few big companies that improved Nigeria's economy while at the same improving the lives of ordinary people.Some GSM companies which came about the same time that MTN Nigeria did did not all become successful as some closed shop or were taken over by newer companies but MTN was among the few that braved the odds to turn it's own case into a success story despite the fact that basic infrastructure like 24 hrs electricity was not available.It's been about 15 years already since MTN has been operating in Nigeria and a new political party is now the ruling party. It seems that the body language of the new party is not eager to encourage MTN to remain in business or remain a profitable company as the NCC has already placed a fine of over N1 trillion, a fine that could wipe out 2 years of the profit of MTN group and not just MTN Nigeria. If MTN was to pay the fine, it would really struggle to do so and may end up being bankrupt or struggle to keep running it's operations in Nigeria. Nigeria is MTN's biggest market but the fine may very well erase any revenue they've made in Nigeria for more than 5 years. A trillion Naira is much more than MTN Nigeria alone can handle and it's even a big problem the MTN as a group.MTN Nigeria was fined by the NCC for failing to deactivate unregistered SIM cards on its network within the stipulated time frame and the fine was for about 5.2 million subscribers at the rate of N200,000 ($1,003) per subscriber. How they arrived at that figure is what I don't get because I don't think they make as much as N200,000 from a Nigerian subscriber per year as profit.Some think MTN'S fine by a government agency like the NCC is politically linked since a new party has taken over and probably wants to rubbish the achievement of the former ruling party since MTN is one of their success stories in Nigeria.I agree that they have a right to fine MTN Nigeria for non compliance with their rules but I think teh fine is still way too much and the case would have been different if the PDP was still in power becasue they won't want to kill MTN.Does APC and Buhari really want to kill MTN Nigeria? I hope not and it won't be a wise thing to do since they are the biggest GSM company in Nigeria that has the most influence on Nigerians in terms of telecommunication. Stopping the operations of MTN Nigeria or nationalizing it will negatively affect the lives of majority of Nigerians who rely on MTN on a daily basis.