Mobile telecommunications companies in the country, comprising MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile, said they have secured the approval of their regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to disconnect Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the country.
They said the approval to disconnect was granted as the banks have refused to pay the debt owed to operators for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, which amounts to over N120 billion.
In a statement issued on Friday, the operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said that with the regulator’s approval, they will disconnect the banks any moment from now if they fail to pay.
ALTON noted that despite the multiparty stakeholder efforts to resolve the 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.
While noting that the banks have refused to cooperate with the telecom operators over the payment of the debt, ALTON, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, said:
Narrating the events that led to the current decision, ALTON said the MNOs in 2021 had sought to disconnect DMBs due to the unpaid debts, which stood at N42 billion at that time. However, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Pantami, intervened and asked the MNOs not to disconnect DMBs as the action would negatively impact the Digital and Financial Inclusion policy of the Federal Government.
ALTON said the level of debt is unsustainable given the time/value huge cost of the continuous upgrade and operation of the systems and infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions for DMBs. And in view of that they will be disconnecting the banks until the N120 billion debt is paid.
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