Group Accuses MTN, 2 Others Of Anti-Competitive Conduct

Consumers Empowerment Organisation of Nigeria (CEON), a consumer advocacy group, has petitioned the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), alleging anti-competitive conducts against Airtel, Glo and MTN, Nigeria’s three major GSM operators.

In a complaint addressed to the executive vice chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, the group wants the commission to commence investigation to determine if the GSM service providers are engaging in “concerted practices” to collectively discriminate in the provision of access to their network’ infrastructure to competing Mobile Content Service Providers (MCSPs).

They also ask the commission to find out whether the operators are abusing their dominant market positions in the provision of access to 2G and 2.5G mobile network infrastructure by discriminating in the provision of access to their mobile network infrastructure to competing MCSPs.

The co-ordinator of the group, Adedeji Babatude, who signed the complaint letter, said such a discriminatory conduct by the named GSM operators is capable of distorting competition in the Mobile Content Applications space through constraining consumers’ choice as well as retarding innovation.

The group is also urging the NCC to invoke Section 1 of the Competition Practice Regulation 2007. Under the Regulation, NCC is considering whether an investigation is expected to issue a written notice to the parties, identifying whether it will take action, the specific action to be taken and the basis for its decision within thirty days of submission of the complaint by CEON.

—Henry Ojelu