Etisalat drags MTN to court over Visafone acquisition
Mon Feb 08, 2016 01:14:pm Business
2.5K By sosa hills
Telecommunication company, Etisalat Nigeria has sued MTN Nigeria and Visafone Ltd, challenging MTN's use of the 800megahertz (MHZ) spectrum following the acquisition of Visafone. MTN closed the deal acquiring Visafone in January this year.
A statement released by Etisalat Head of Media,Chineze Amanfo,says the suit was filed in order to prevent the use of the spectrum by MTN at this time, as it will entrench the dominance of MTN in the retail data services market.
She further said: "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. As you are aware, the matter is already in court; as such, we are restrained from commenting further on the matter."
Before the acquisition of Visafone by MTN Nigeria last month, the GSM operators controlled about 98 per cent of the Nigerian market, while the CDMA controlled 1.58 per cent market share, according to statistics from the NCC.
Amina Oyagbola, MTN Corporate Services and human Resources Executive, had said the acquisition of Visafone would help to leverage resources for service enhancement and would deepen the growth and rollout of broadband services across the country in support of the National Broadband Plan, for the benefit of Nigerians.
A statement released by Etisalat Head of Media,Chineze Amanfo,says the suit was filed in order to prevent the use of the spectrum by MTN at this time, as it will entrench the dominance of MTN in the retail data services market.
She further said: "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. As you are aware, the matter is already in court; as such, we are restrained from commenting further on the matter."
Before the acquisition of Visafone by MTN Nigeria last month, the GSM operators controlled about 98 per cent of the Nigerian market, while the CDMA controlled 1.58 per cent market share, according to statistics from the NCC.
Amina Oyagbola, MTN Corporate Services and human Resources Executive, had said the acquisition of Visafone would help to leverage resources for service enhancement and would deepen the growth and rollout of broadband services across the country in support of the National Broadband Plan, for the benefit of Nigerians.
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