The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Karl Toriola, made this known on Monday during a tour of MTN’s facilities by Fellows of the Media Innovation Programme in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

The MTN chief, who has about 78 million subscribers under his watch, pinpointed that the sector has been accumulating significant losses and that immediate action is necessary to reverse this trend.

The operator with a corporate social investment of N2.6bn, according to its 2023 Sustainability Report, is now surviving on the profits it accumulated in about two decades.

We must return the industry to profitability,” he stated, emphasising the necessity for reform.

He further elaborated that the company is currently operating on its reserves, which he described as unsustainable in the long run.

Earlier this year, telecom operators renewed calls for a tariff hike—the first increase in 11 years—to address rising operational costs and improve service quality. Without such adjustments, they argued, financial viability and service standards will continue to decline

Toriola reiterated that the sector faces critical pressures from rising operational costs, including escalating diesel prices required to power base transceiver stations.

He warned, “There should be no delusion; if the tariff doesn’t go up, we will shut down,” underscoring the urgent need for tariff adjustments to reflect economic realities.

Toriola noted that MTN, once one of Nigeria’s top corporate taxpayers, has seen its tax contributions decline as a result of these financial challenges.

Reflecting on their first-quarter results, MTN and Airtel have adopted a cautious approach to capital expenditure for 2024.

Meanwhile, the two other mobile operators in the country, 9mobile and Globacom, are not publicly listed.

In 2024, MTN Nigeria reported a staggering N519.1bn loss in the first half of the year, primarily due to foreign exchange losses stemming from the naira’s devaluation and high inflation rates.

Speaking further, Toriola also warned that it may suspend Unstructured Supplementary Service Data banking services due to the N250bn debt owed by Nigerian banks.

The mobile network operator is seeking regulatory approval to halt support for USSD services used for banking transactions unless the debt is resolved and tariffs are adjusted to reflect the economic realities.

However, Toriola expressed optimism that the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso, and the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, would intervene to help resolve the ongoing financial crisis.

He concluded by stressing the critical role the telecom industry plays in supporting Nigeria’s economy, urging the government and regulators to act quickly to prevent the dire consequences of inaction.

The issue arose after the network provider barred some subscribers’ lines on Sunday, which led to a viral video showing a mob destroying a barricade fence outside an MTN office.

The incident took place in the FESTAC Town area of Lagos State, where a large crowd of angry subscribers vandalized the telecommunications company’s office.

The unrest was reportedly in response to the network blocking subscribers due to discrepancies between their National Identification Number and SIM registration.

However, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated on X.com that the Divisional Police Officer of FESTAC and his team had restored peace and normalcy at the scene.

“This should not be the way to go!

Reacting on Tuesday, MTN said it would be shutting its shops nationwide today.

“Yello customer, please be informed that our shops nationwide will be closed today, 30th July 2024,” the statement sighted on X read.

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

This was disclosed in its first quarter report filed with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Thursday.

In its outlook for the rest of 2023, the MTN group said, “We anticipate that trading conditions across markets will remain challenging for the remainder of 2023 and we will continue to execute on our proactive measures to manage the near-term challenges and risks.

“Within this environment of elevated inflation, implementing selective price increases across the portfolio remains a critical priority to ensure that operations generate sufficient cash flows to fund future capital expenditure needed for building world-class networks.

“We will continue to have the necessary engagements with the regulatory authorities on such needed increases.”

The telecom company, which operates across 19 countries including South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, said the blended inflation across its footprint remained elevated and averaged 18.5 per cent in Q1 2023, compared to 11.5 per cent in Q1 2022. Interest rates increased during the period as central banks acted to curb inflation. Higher inflation and interest rates weighed on consumers’ spending power and impacted business activity, the company said.

MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita, in the statement, said, “MTN’s resilient business model and operational execution enabled us to continue to successfully navigate difficult macroeconomic, geopolitical and regulatory conditions in Q1 2023.

The telcos, MTN and Airtel, disclosed in their recent earnings report that 16.2 million subscribers who had their lines barred have submitted their NINs for verification but only 6.5 million had been verified as of September 30, 2022.

In April, over 72.77 million GSM lines were barred from making calls on their SIMs, following a directive from the Federal Government as regards subscribers that had not linked their SIMs and NINs.

It said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.), “has approved the implementation of the policy with effect from April 4, 2022. Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all telcos to strictly enforce the policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.

Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage policy from April 4, 2022.”

According to MTN and Airtel 19 million and 13.6 million subscribers respectively were affected by the ban. The telcos further stated that the implementation of the policy has affected their revenue.

Airtel said, “In April 2022, the voice services for 13.6 million customers were barred due to non-submission of NIN information. As of September 2022, 5.7 million customers (42 per cent) have subsequently submitted their NINs and 2.7 million customers (20 per cent) have been fully verified and unbarred. Revenue growth for the first half of the year was impacted by the effect of barring outgoing voice calls in Nigeria for those customers who had not submitted their NINs.

Speaking in a panel discussion at the 7th annual Project Management Institute (PMI) Africa conference held in Lagos Sanya stated: “At MTN Foundation, we understand that education is a path. We believe innovation is formal education agnostic.

We understand that everyone may not go through the four walls of formal school. Young people think about the future, the gratification and the job they want to do. So, for us, this is critical. It became clear to us what we can do to make an impact, and that is youth development in Nigeria.

The programme is open to media practitioners across the country, including print, electronic, and online platforms, as well as social media content creators.

This was revealed in a statement released on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the six-month, well-funded fellowship for Nigerian media practitioners was designed to serve as a bastion for sustainable growth and development of the nation’s ever-changing media scene.

The statement said the course would give participants “a greater understanding of Nigeria’s technology sector and the nexus between media and technology” whilst helping them (participants) to adapt to the changing realities.

It also noted that fellows would be accorded access to professional resources and mentorship from the SMC faculty.

The Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, during the launch of the event, said, “We are driven by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected world and are driving accelerated growth by leading digital solutions for Nigeria’s progress.

“Against this backdrop, the media landscape continues changing at remarkable speeds, boosted by new technologies.

“Thus, it is only fitting that we support developments in the Nigerian media space with our infrastructure and enable capacity building initiatives to enable innovation in media practice.”

The telecom boss expressed satisfaction over partnering with the Pan-Atlantic University, given the latter’s expertise, which he said had contributed immensely to the professional development of the media industry in Nigeria and across the African continent.

In his reaction, the Vice Chancellor, Pan-Atlantic University, Prof. Enase Okonedo, stated, “The School of Media and Communication was established to train professionals who will uphold the highest intellectual, ethical and professional values that promote creativity, critical knowledge, social responsibility and the spirit of enterprise.

“The MTN Media Innovation Programme could not have come at a better time for Nigerian media practitioners to imbibe these pertinent values,” Okonedo added.

The course, fully sponsored by MTN Nigeria, would be available to 20 successful applicants, the statement summed up.