The telecoms giant says the sanction is unfair | By Yinka Ojo
Steven Evans, the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, has described as “inappropriate” the N360 million fine imposed on the company by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
Evans told journalists on Monday in Lagos that the telecommunications company had done all within its powers to offer quality services to its subscribers.
He said that the company was disappointed by the action of NCC. According to him, the sanction is a wrong way to deal with businesses which are investing in Nigeria to develop world-class telecommunications networks.
He said that the service provider had invested two billion dollars (more than N310 billion) in the last four years and would be investing 500 million dollars (about N80 billion) this year for its network upgrade.
“So, we have to explain to our shareholders why we are investing 500 million dollars and we are now suddenly fined by NCC,” he said.
He said that Etisalat was going to meet with the other operators to understand what they felt about the fine and the way forward.
Evans said that the company had delivered quality services in a more difficult environment in Nigeria when compared to Etisalat’s services in other countries.
The NCC had sanctioned Etisalat, MTN, Airtel and Globacom, and fined N1.17 billion for not meeting the key performance indicators.
Etisalat and MTN were fined N360 million each, Airtel was fined N270 million, while Globacom was penalised N180 million.
The four GSM operators were given up till May 25 to pay the fines or face further sanctions.
Yinka has taught at various levels of education. He has published a textbook on effective teaching practice and several academic papers in reputable journals. He is currently an education consultant. He loves writing, poetry, music and is presently working on a musical album billed to be released into the market soon.
