MTN's Nigeria License Renewed as Talks Over Record Fine Continue
- West African nation's regulator extends permit to August 2021
- Company has to pay $94.2 million for extension by Dec. 31
A customer uses a mobile phone beside an MTN Group Ltd. 'Connect Point' in Lagos, Nigeria.
Photographer: George Osodi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
MTN Group Ltd., the African mobile-network operator that faces a record $5.2 billion fine in Nigeria, said the country’s Communications Commission approved the renewal and extension of its license for another five years.
“MTN’s operating spectrum, which was issued along with the digital-mobile license in 2001 with an original expiry date of February 2016, has now been extended to Aug. 31, 2021,” the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. MTN has to pay $94.2 million by Dec. 31 to secure the license for the 900MHz and 1800MHz frequency bands and the extension, it said.