The commission disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, signed by its Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, as a follow-up to its Pre-Disconnection Notice issued on January 8, 2024.

In the first notice, the commission stated that it has approved MTN Nigerian Communications Plc. to commence the phased disconnection of Globacom Limited with effect from January 18, 2024, due to a long-standing interconnection debt dispute between the parties.

Announcing its extension, the NCC said, “The commission is pleased to announce that the parties have now reached an agreement to resolve all outstanding issues between them. For this reason, and in the exercise of its regulatory powers in that regard, the commission has put the phased disconnection on hold for 21 days from today, January 17, 2024.

Whilst the commission expects MTN and Glo to resolve all outstanding issues within the 21 days, the commission insists that interconnect debts must be settled by all operating companies as a necessary component towards compliance with regulatory obligations of all licensees.”

It noted that its approval for disconnection would have potential impacts on consumers.

In its extension notice, the NCC stressed that mobile network operators and other licensees in the telecom industry must adhere to the terms and conditions of their licences, especially as contained in their interconnection agreements.

Earlier on Thursday, the commission said it was set to advise Globacom subscribers on the next steps following the expiration of a 10-day grace period for the barring of their lines from making calls to MTN lines.

Muoka said on Wednesday, “We will come out with some information about that. Most likely today, in the next few hours.”

The interconnect charge is the price telecom operators pay one another for calls terminating on their networks.

MTN and Glo have been at loggerheads over this fee for a period of time.

In 2019, MTN briefly disconnected Glo subscribers over a N4bn debt.

A source close to Glo has since said the telco has paid.

The source said, “We paid within the window allowed. So, it is surprising that this is happening. We made outstanding payments already.”

Another industry source confirmed the payment but noted that there are still issues with interest payments.

The source also stated that the National Assembly has waded in.

The source said, “It has not been resolved. The NCC has waded in, and they are waiting for the resolution. They (MTN) are still waiting for the NCC to tell them what to do. Even, the National Assembly has called the two firms.

“The owing party has paid a substantial part of what they owe. But they are still owing for the interest accrued and VAT remittance.”

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued a public notice on Monday, signed by Reuben Muoka, Director of the Public Affairs Department, revealing that the commission has partially approved the disconnection of Globacom from MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.

This development raises concerns about potential disruptions in communication services between the two telecom giants.

The notice partly reads, “Globacom was notified of the application made by MTN and was given the opportunity to comment and state its case.

“The Commission, having examined the application and circumstances surrounding the indebtedness, determined that Globacom does not have sufficient or justifiable reason for non-payment of the interconnect charges.”

The NCC revealed that at the expiration of 10 days from the date of this notice, “subscribers of Globacom will no longer be able to make calls to MTN but will be able to receive calls.”

It added, “The partial disconnection, however, will allow in-bound calls to the Globacom network.”

According to a statement issued by the association and signed by Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, recently, the authorisation to disconnect Deposit Money Banks is due to the refusal to pay the debt owed to operators for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services, to the tune of N120bn.

“Members of the public will recall that MNOs and DMBs have had protracted disagreements concerning the appropriate USSD pricing model for financial transactions, transparency of charges, mode of collection, and liability for payment of the outstanding and continuous service fees due to the MNOs (which currently stand at over N120 billion).”

The operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria said that with the NCC’s approval, banks will be disconnected if they fail to pay up.

Following the debt problem ALTON explained that despite stakeholder efforts to resolve this situation and prevent any impact on services, led by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, and including the NCC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and MNOs and DMBs.

The banks refused to cooperate with the telecom operators over the payment of the debt. It noted that The DMBs have continually incurred debt, without efforts to settle previous payments.

Prior to making this decision, ALTON said in 2021 DMBs incurred a N42bn debt which the MNOs planned to take action on.

However, interventions from the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Pantami, discouraged the MNOs stating that the action would negatively impact the Digital and Financial Inclusion policy of the Federal Government.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria and Deposit Money Banks represented by the Chairman, Body of Bank CEOs subsequently met on 15 March 2021 to discuss indebtedness of DMBs to MNOs for USSD services.

In that regard, CBN and NCC issued a joint press statement on the agreement reached by all stakeholders.

“The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and the NCC have made several efforts to get the banks to show good faith and sign an agreement, in the national interest, based on the resolutions reached that meeting.

“Unfortunately, the patriotic intervention of the Minister and the NCC have been taken for granted by the DMBs, as two years after, the banks have failed to sign a final agreement,” ALTON explained.

“It is pertinent to note that the contract between MNOs and DMBs on the use of USSDs for banking transactions is strictly commercial and MNOs are at liberty to withdraw the services if it is established that the transaction is unprofitable to them.

ALTON highlighted that the MNOs had invested billions of naira in expanding its systems to accommodate the USSD needs of DMBs over the years.

Which has allowed Nigerians seamless access to banking services,” in addition to enabling banks to trim costs by requiring fewer branches to service their growing customers. Unfortunately, MNOs are not getting paid for their services, and the debt that stood at N42bn in 2021 has now risen to over N120bn,” the telcos added.

Operators opined that the current debt level was exorbitant taking into consideration of ongoing upgrades and operation of the systems and infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions for DMBs