MTN Nigeria wins case against Etisalat

MTN Nigeria wins court case against Etisalat Nigeria challenging the South African-based mobile phone operator’s use of the 800 mega hertz (MHZ) spectrum following the acquisition of Visafone for undisclosed amount. By Gugu Lourie

Etisalat has filed a lawsuit against MTN and Visafone to challenge the acquisition, which will enable MTN Nigeria to deploy wireless broadband services in Africa’s biggest economy.

The Leadership newspaper reported on Friday that Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursady, struck out a suit filed Etisalat Nigeria challenging MTN’s use of the 800 megahertz (MHZ) spectrum following the acquisition of Visafone for lack of jurisdiction.

Etisalat had, through its counsel, Femi Atoyebi, asked the court to declare that the sale of Visaphone to MTN illegal, and null and void, as it did not follow the proper procedure required by law.  But MTN, through its lawyer, Adeniyi Adegbomire, filed  a notice of preliminary objection, arguing that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

He argued that the NCC is empowered by constitution to approve,  regulate, sanction and issue directory on the operations of service providers in Nigeria.

MTN Nigeria will  deploy  the Visafone  800MHz spectrum for the commercial rollout of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for its fourth generation (4G) network that will deliver fast and reliable broadband to Nigerians.

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