By Dele Ogbodo
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reiterated that the Commission is set to wield the big stick against the background of its 2003 Acts and the accompanying guidelines of 2012 conferred on it to grant approval to disconnect operators within the telecommunications ecosystem.
Arising from the failure of Exchange Telecommunications limited, therefore to meet its payment obligations to MTN for interconnect services rendered, NCC has therefore granted approval to disconnect the interconnect outfit from the services of MTN, unarguably one of Nigeria’s telecommunication operators.
Checks on its website, showed that Exchange Telecommunications limited, was licensed by NCC to deliver services as interconnect exchange and international data access.
The website, revealed that the company operates both local and international interconnect platforms, even as it alluded to being the largest in the country, connected to other networks for redundancy, stability and efficiency.
While the amount involved in the settlement deal was not made known, the reason for severing the connection between the players stems largely from the inability of ET Limited to settle charges owed MTN.
NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Reuben Muoka, in a national daily publication on Friday which was confirmed on its website, on matter while faulting ETL for its failure to meet its obligation to MTN, said: “Exchange was notified of the application and given opportunity to comment and state its case.”
According to him, the Commission having examined the application and circumstances surrounding the indebtedness determined that the Exchange does not have sufficient reason for non-payment of the interconnect charges.
While putting the public on notice about the development, NCC, said: “The Commission has approved the disconnection of Exchange to MTN in accordance with section 100 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 and the Guidelines on Procedure for Granting Approval to Disconnect Telecommunications Operators, 2012.”
Muoka, stated that at the expiration of 5 days from today Friday (27) of this notice, MTN will discontinue passing voice and data traffic through Exchange ETL and will therefore utilize alternative channels in interconnecting with other network service providers.
