By OKECHUKWU PEACE
The fear of dominance of MTN Group Ltd in the data service market is the real reason Emirates Telecommunications Group Co is suing its Nigerian competitor, Bloomberg reported.
With the latest acquisition of Visafone Communications Ltd, MTN will become the biggest player with its unrestrained access to Visafone’s 800 megahertz of spectrum.
Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat’s Nigeria unit said in an e-mailed statement on Monday, “Not to challenge will entrench the dominance of MTN in the data services market.”
MTN Nigeria has been served with court papers and the phone company was in court last week about the matter, spokesman Funso Aina said by text message. Tony Ojobo, a spokesman for the Nigerian Communications Commission, the regulator that approved the Visafone deal, said the NCC hasn’t received any official correspondence from Etisalat questioning the approval of the MTN acquisition.
