Nigeria's telecoms regulator said it has set a November 16 deadline for South African mobile giant MTN and Nigeria’s largest network provider to pay the sum of $5.2 billion fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered users SIM cards.
Sometimes in August, NCC issued a directive to all mobile telecommunication companies operating in Nigeria to deactivate all unregistered SIM cards within seven days or face severe sanctions. MTN Africa's largest telecoms firm which had more than 62.8 million subscribers in Nigeria missed the deadline to deactivate its 5.1 million unregistered subscribers, prompting a 200,000 Naira ($1,000) fine for each unregistered SIM.
The penalty saw the company's shares crash on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and raised questions about the renewal of its license in Nigeria next year if the fine goes unpaid. Under the law, the NCC's has the power to grant or revoke permits.
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