The MTN CEO, Mr Ferdinand Moolman, spoke at the Senate hearing on the data price floor recently. See his full statement below:


MTN's Commitment to ICT Development in Nigeria

MTN remains unrelentingly committed to the sustained provision of affordable and accessible voice and data services in accordance with the National ICT and Broadband plan. In line with this commitment and to continue the provision of high speed data services to its esteemed customers, MTN recently bid for, and acquired the 2.6GHz LTE spectrum at the cost of US$96million. MTN also launched 4G LTE services, enabling faster access to digital platforms and igniting socio-economic development with a multiplier effect on the economy.
MTN actively contributed to the development of the National Broadband Plan, and has consistently taken every step to facilitate the achievement of Government’s objectives of pervasive, cost-effective and sustainable access to data services by all strata of Nigeria’s population. The company continues to be an ICT development partner to the government and people of Nigeria.

Telecoms' Contribution to National Socio-Economic Development and Factors Constraining Industry Sustainability
MTN is committed to continue its efforts to provide the best data network to the people of Nigeria. In this regard, however, there are a number of factors that impact the sector’s sustainability such as:

• The rise of headline inflation to about 17.9%

• The depletion of operator revenues by unlicensed providers of “over-the-top” telecoms services who do not have any physical presence; nor pay any taxes; nor make any significant contribution to employment or other socio-economic objectives of government in Nigeria;

• The inability of operators to access foreign exchange (this is particularly debilitating given that most of our inputs are sourced off-shore). This has very significantly increased both operating and capital expenses.

Despite these macro-economic challenges, telecom tariffs have declined significantly (over 67% between 2007 and 2016) and data prices are amongst the lowest on the continent. With this in mind, MTN looks forward to the cost study as confirmed by the NCC, and remains committed to working with the Regulator and Industry to ensure fair value and fair competition in the Nigerian market.

@ OP guy you for try go mtn office go complain. Happened to me not long ago. I had to go to their shop in Surulere, and after writing a formal complaint, they sorted it.

This morning I saw Vanguard and ThisDay newspapers wrapped with adverts announcing that Glo has launched 4G/LTE in Nigeria.

AGAIN?

In 2011, the same Vanguard reported that Glo had launched 4G!

Please see the story here on Vanguard: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/01/glo-launches-4g-lte-network/

In 2015, the same Glo announced plans to “launch” another 4G

See the report here: http://www.ittelecomdigest.com/glo-launches-lte-june-1/

Now, they have come to launch again in 2016.

How many times do you do naming ceremony for your child??
These corporate guys can like to deceive themselves…

Guy, you sure say dem no reach 4000 workers in that office?

titus3:

The picture you are showing is when someone from MTN was addressing you guys. My brother is in that picture sef!

According to him, the woman said they had spoken to CNSSL and that they promised that you will be paid by noon today.

Today is the 30th, so you cannot be paid until you finish working na!

This practice of using MTN as a scapegoat has to stop, because in all fairness they are not to blame for this issue. I implore the contractors that hired the staff, as well as the new contractors to please speak up and let us know their side of the story.

I feel it is easy for us to target MTN as the big fish, but we should also consider the fact that there are other parties involved who are the real culprits in this issue.

titus3:

The picture you are showing is when someone from MTN was addressing you guys. My brother is in that picture sef!

According to him, the woman said they had spoken to CNSSL and that they promised that you will be paid by noon today.

Today is the 30th, so you cannot be paid until you finish working na!

I think this statement is uncalled for, how can the President just place the blame solely on MTN's feet. Where are the facts to back up these allegations, you can't just say things because you have issues with a company.

MTN misbehaved and even they know it and have been fined and must pay a fine, but now accusing them of this, haba...

Banks should prepare because the blame might come to them next, afterall these terrorists are funded somehow. The list of those to blame will continue to rise, I wonder if that solves the problem that needs to be faced.

Gradually gradually we are getting there.

MTN Nigeria said it received with shock, the news that the Consumers Protection Council (CPC) ordered that it pays N1.850m to one Fidelis Omeje who claimed he had won N2m in one of the Telco's promos.

In a press statement through Mr. Kayode‎ Olagesi, CEO of Towncriers, the experiential marketing agency that managed the prize presentation on behalf of MTN, the Company said they feel obliged to address the subject matter in view of the misrepresentation which has since caused substantial embarrassment, over a process which was conducted professionally and under the supervision of credible regulatory and audit agencies.

Olagesi‎ said, "Whilst we were not party to any proceedings conducted by the CPC over the claim by Mr. Omeje Chukwuma Fidelis, we state without any equivocation that the process of selection of and the list of winners was duly endorsed and vetted by all parties involved, including the client, MTN Nigeria, renowned auditors, Alexander Forbes and the National Lottery Commission. Consequently, Mr. Fidelis was confirmed as a winner in the N150,000.00 category and not the N2m category."

He said that Mr. Fidelis was inadvertently issued a dummy cheque in the wrong sum which was later clarified to him pursuant to which he did receive and acknowledge his winnings of the sum of N150,000.00 in November, 2012.

"We were therefore surprised when our attention was again drawn to this particular promo which was concluded almost four years ago with Mr. Fidelis and all other winners in the said promotion receiving their prizes".

He added that in any event, having organised the prize presentation ceremony, they are desirous of final closure on the subject and following the CPC’s position, "we expect that Mr. Omeje Chukwuma Fidelis’ receipt of the sum of N1,850,000.00, without prejudice to our reservations, will bring this matter to a close.

Olagesi, added that as a long-standing marketing communications partner, they remain committed to providing excellent services to the clients, MTN inclusive.

"Our services to MTN are in the area of experiential marketing and events management, working in different capacities since 2007.

"With regards to the issue at hand, we are aware that MTN as a matter of policy engages independent auditors and relevant regulatory agencies to supervise their promos, as was done in this case. Indeed, the testimonials of hundreds of winners over the years lends credence to the authenticity of these promos," he concluded.

http://www.changenigeria.org/news/17776-mtn-nigeria-denies-shortchanging-promo-winner

Are there more people with Fidelis' complaint? It is indeed strange that of all the promo-winners, he was singled-out to be shortchanged *strokes chin*

Make he send my own share of the awoof sha o even if na recharge card I go collect.

It sounds like a shake down.

Just get a lawyer to look through, I'm sure they're just trying to see what they can get from you.

Compliance:
Hi fellow nairalanders, I need urgent and serious advices. I applied for a masters degree at Walden online university in 2013, I always had one of their agents calling me to consider studying with them since I showed my interest. He suggested the course I should put in for. That was masters in public health administration. Sincerely, he was too really on my neck then and I got his calls almost everyday. I guess is a white man. He's always calling to intimate me of the processes, until I got the admission letter, at a point he asked if I could be paying monthly.

I was sent some hard copy textbooks too. I started a few classes online, but when I started it was entirely something, I attended about 3 classes, did an assignment but didn't click with the way things were going. I wasn't used to all online lecture stuffs. Besides, I didn't flow because the course was basically based on the American system of health care delivery. I am and agric graduate, that course was like Latin to me.

I then lodged a complain to an advisor that I couldn't cope and besides its difficult keeping with classses due to several Nigerian factors. He said he'll look into it. Since that time I stopped attending the online classes and stopped totally. I attended the class like 3 times or four before I stopped. My laptop was latter stolen some few weeks after that and all materials were even gone.

After about a year I was called to pay up my school fees, I was like, what school fees? I didnt understand, I never wrote a test or exam let alone of obtaining a certificate. I told them I stopped long ago. They sent a few mails too trying to threaten me to pay up or they'll involve a third party, after about another year, They sent me a mail again, and I replied them the same thing, I even told them I would send the textbooks back to them, to me that was the only thing I can say I'm oweing them or I pay for them so they won't say Nigerians are corrupt. I told them my plight, I stopped working, and had no means of livelihood, a graduate looking for job and trying to make ends meet.

Some weeks ago I was contacted by some agents in Lagos about my indebtedness and that I must pay, I repeated the same response and explained to them that I'll pay for the textbooks and that I only did few classes not up to three weeks. They replied me that I must pay for those classes and the books when I converted the bill to Naira, it was above 400k. I was at first laughing it off, but I got a reminder again tonight.

Please I need urgent advises on what my actions could be. That amount is far too outrageous, even if they sell all I have right now, t won't pay the bill. Anyone that has encountered similar issue should please help with suggestions.

Ghen ghen...real life Harvey Spectre.

But I think he is only here as a consultant or maybe negotiator. He probably won't play a major role in the court case. The judge is even expecting an out of court settlement sef before the next hearing so at best he is coming to consult.

They should just agree amicably already and let everybody move on, the drama too much.

Who do we believe? Nigerian economists or US government.

ABUJA — The United States, US, government, yesterday, listed Nigeria as one of the top 10 global economies by 2050, citing the economic potentialities of countries across Africa.

This came as President Barak Obama dispatched a team of US officials to study Nigeria’s business climate, with the aim of investing in the country, even as President Muhammadu Buhari expressed gratitude to the US President and his government for assisting Nigeria in its anti-terrorism war.

US Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, who disclosed this at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja, said this explained why her government was deepening economic and commercial engagement with African countries.

According to her, Nigeria is at the top of the list, considering the fact that Nigeria’s middle class of roughly 50 million people is expected to help grow the country into one of the top 10 global economies by the year 2050.

Pritzker, who is currently in Nigeria on a fact-finding mission with senior US business executives, including the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, (PAC-DBIA), is optimistic that relationship between the US and African countries would lead to a prosperous partnership.

She also disclosed that the visit to Nigeria provided an opportunity for the PAC-DBIA members to gather facts about the commercial opportunities and challenges in both Nigeria and Rwanda, and then report back to the President with strong and actionable recommendations that would take the relationship to the next level.

Pritzker said: “President Obama and I are convinced that the American private sector, working in partnership with the African business community, can help address some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, including building modern infrastructure, creating jobs and opportunity for young people, and expanding access to education and the Internet.

“When we think about the economic potential of countries across Africa, Nigeria is absolutely at the top of that list.

“The imperative that we all face is to promote economic growth and opportunity at home, and deepening our mutually beneficial ties of trade and commerce is not just a nice to have, it is a must-have for all of us.”

Pritzker told President Buhari that she was in Nigeria with 10 leading American business men and women at the prompting of President Obama.
She said: “The purpose is to better understand the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Nigeria. Our team is very optimistic about your government’s commitment to security, good governance, fighting corruption, having reliable and regular regulatory policies.

“All these make us optimistic about working together. We are not here to sell policies, but to partner with you.”

The secretary’s trip to Nigeria and Rwanda underscores Obama administration’s commitment to shifting the US economic relationship with Africa from one based on aid to trade and investment.

Buhari lauds US for support on insecurity

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday expressed gratitude to President Obama and his government for assisting Nigeria in its ant-terrorism war.

Speaking on the visit by the delegation led by the United States Secretary of Commerce, Ms Penny Pritzker, at the Presidential Villa, Buhari applauded ongoing American collaboration with his administration on security and developmental issues.

He also stated that his administration would continue to welcome the support and understanding of the United States as it strove to achieve greater internal security and socio-economic progress in Nigeria.

Story from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/nigeria-one-of-top-10-global-economies-us-govt/

Useful post.

jashar:
if it's true, thank God for them ooo...

I'm happy for them.
That means they won't be paid for 3 months since they've paid them already shebi?

Lol!

What if they still get paid as usual, thats triple blessing o! Or is it fourple sef.

MTN Nigeria said it has recalled over 90 per cent of sacked employees of Visafone following its acquisition of the leading Coded Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network.

Authoritative sources at MTN and Visafone told Daily Sun that all disengaged staff, excluding drivers and office assistants, have now been
recalled.

One of the recalled staff, who spoke to Daily Sun on the condition of anonymity confirmed that almost all the sacked staff have been reinstated and are now awaiting their new salary renumeration packages and work guidelines.
“When we were asked to leave, we were given only three months salaries in lieu of notice, which was not too good because some of us have put in five to 10 years of service. Visafone Communications came into Nigeria at a time when the defunct Multi-Links and Starcoms were dominating the CDMA sector. It broke their monopoly and instantly became the fourth largest network in the country.”
On the number of staff affected, our source said about 500 and not 2,000 as reported by a national daily were involved because of the consecutive lay-off in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

He further stated that MTN did not want to take on liabilities initially until it discovered that its technical crew could not understand the CDMA network, which it acquired because of its spectrum.
“When MTN realised that it does not understand how the CDMA works, it had to appeal to us to come back to put them through the network.”
Prior to Wednesday’s sack, Visafone had laid off half of its workforce in 2013 and early 2015 in anticipation of the acquisition.
Visafone was founded by Mr. Jim Ovia with the aim to take CDMA network to another level but, it could not compete with its GSM counterparts that enjoyed governmental support always.

Its take over by MTN was designed to enhance quality of voice and data services and to provide a robust internet ecosystem via Long Term Evolution (4G) as against the current 2/3G speed.

Meanwhile, MTN Executive, Amina Oyagbola, in an official capacity, explained that the acquisition seeks to leverage resources for service enhancement, which is also “reflective of our concerted efforts to deepen the growth and roll out of broadband services across the country in support of the National Broadband Plan for the benefit of Nigerians.

“We are committed to exploring avenues for meeting our customers’ increasing data needs in line with our vision ‘to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers’. As we work to maximise our data capabilities towards achieving broadband of international quality, our objective is to ensure that Nigerians experience a boost in the quality of broadband internet services translating to the much needed enhanced data speeds and value to enhance personal and business productivity.”

Source: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/mtn-recalls-sacked-visafone-staff/

But emmm, he's the one always singing about money and women na. Why dem no go look am as ATM.

moonraker:
hmmm a very sneaky business move by mtn..

Conspiracy Theory

Lets see so MTN figures that it wouldnt be able to pay the fine but recognizes that Nigeria is a hugh market

and leaving Nigeria totally will affect them as a company profit wise. so what do they do?

since the NCC havent actually suspended their services, they are still within their rights to continue doing business.

buy out visafone. Move mtn out of the country but still remit profits back to SA, Bravo MTN Anaconda call obey


Sorry lads, i will show myself out..

Your theory doesn't check out.

The deal has been on since last year even long before the fine was thought of. This is news now probably because paper work was just completed. Some even say its a merger and not a takeover.

I remember as a bachelor, constantly having to answer a new year question: "Shey, this year abi?", after a while the "Yes" just became automatic, make the talk no for too long.

LOL!

prela:
Nice gift.........but Someone should pls tell this woman to stop going to the gym. Her stature is just right. @ almost 50 she should take it easy

She dey try maintain the stature na.

otokx:
Why did NCC reduce the fine in the first place?

Because they know it was too heavy. Even the Federal Government is finding it hard to source revenue, how so a company to bring in so much as fine and then many will say we need money to finance the budget.

PassingShot:

NCC had no reason not to renew MTN's licence then.

The fine, even though huge, was known to MTN in the meeting all telecommunication coys had with NCC. Plus they were warned on previous violation before this particular one.

Forget about who will cover percentage fall. There are many telecommunication companies that will be happy to jump in. Withdrawal of their licence could be effective in six months from the day the pronouncement is made thereby using the period to get other coys enter the market.

Don't tell me MTN is indespensable in our telecommunication industry.

You say there are many companies ready to jump in. How encouraging has the regulator being to make anybody want to just come in after seeing all that is going on. They will always fear that when they "jump in" they have no assurances of not becoming victims too? I doubt it.

If MTN said they had no fair hearing and went to court for that reason, NCC has nothing to worry about and wait for the court to decide, simple as that. Whats the rush for

How is this news? More so front page

if only it were that easy.

mzilakazi:


The only difference is that Nigeria is using MTN as a means to fund their N6 trillion budget.

LOL!

I think NCC should just let the court decide. What's the rush and "deadline" for. ALl these insistence on meeting the deadline only makes it seem like they are really going to use it to fund the budget.

BrainnewsNg:
Really?

So MTN needs Nigeria down fall?

MTN here is the victim. An engineer that doesn't even work for them installed the transmitters.No way they wold have nown.

A pro-Biafra engineer working with Ericsson Nigeria Ltd helped in the installation of Radio Biafra transmitters on MTN masts in Enugu state, TheCable understands. David Nwawuisi, who is currently standing trial with Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is a field maintenance engineer with the Swedish technology company. His role in the saga, sources told TheCable, was to grant access to IPOB engineers to mount the transmitters on MTN’s masts under his care. Although MTN owns 12,000 base stations across the country, the maintenance is outsourced to Ericsson Nigeria Ltd and Huawei, a Chinese networking and manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. The transmitters, which were used in boosting the signals of Radio Biafra allegedly transmitted from London, UK, were discovered by the security agencies on MTN masts in Enugu and Anambra states. TheCable learnt that the second suspect, Benjamin Madubugwu, helped with the installation of the transmitters in Anambra also in concert with IPOB engineers. Both men were said to have been contacted by Chidibere Onwudiwe, a suspected IPOB member, for the job, according to court papers filed by the federal government. Onwudiwe is now said to be at large. Government said the transmitters were smuggled into Nigeria by Kanu and installed between April and May 2015. Madubugwu and Nwawuisi are standing trial on the charge of managing an unlawful group accused of treasonable felony. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) struggled for weeks to locate and bring down Radio Biafra masts.

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/how-radio-biafra-installed-transmitters-on-mtn-masts

Case shuold be settled at least according to the story below.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/12/withdraw-criminal-charges-against-mtn-musician-pleads-with-ncc/

Questions need to be asked. According to the claim, NCC doesn't have the right impose the fine, there are so many things wrong with the Nigerian system. A regulator has become Investigator, Judge and Jury all at once.

I guess our judiciary will be properly tested in a time like this and it is good that the international community will be watching.

oviecardealer:
estimate 2.1m for honda civic 2010model and 4.2m to 5m for 12/13 models Rav4 respectively with customs duty fully paid to land lagos.

Thank you for your response and I apologise for responding late, I had to ensure some things were in order firts. I will give you a call.

interesting.

karashita:
Ok o.
Now that approval has been given for the payment of oil markerters,next should be federal govt workers.
Baba we need our salaries please.

I thought they said October salaraies were ready to be paid. Abi na lie dem dey lie.

Please OP, how much will it cost to bring in Civic 2010 and Rav4 2012/2013. Very urgent.