MTN withdraws application against NCA

Telcom giant, MTN Ghana, has withdrawn an application against the National Communications Authority, over the regulator’s moves to reduce its market share.

“We wish to withdraw the application for further stakeholder consultation. We formally withdraw the application” the company’s legal counsel, Samuel Cudjoe, told the Supreme Court.

The application was to appeal the Accra High court judgment that held that the NCA did not breach any law in their procedure to establish that MTN’s dominant player status is unfair.

That ruling by Justice Samuel Asiedu gave greenlight to the NCA to proceed with ‘corrective’ measures to address the imbalances.

Photo: Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu

The court held that from the evidence provided the court, MTN could not claim that the regulator did not give the company a fair hearing before arriving at the decision to classify the telco as a ‘Significant Market Player’.

That status triggered moves by the NCA to clip MTN’s wings.

The court also said it was premature for MTN to proceed to court without first exhausting internal processes for redress. It said MTN Ghana should have applied for a review at the NCA after which it could then come to court if it was still dissatisfied.

MTN Ghana signalled it would challenge the judgment. But at the Supreme Court Tuesday, the company’s lawyers indicated a u-turn.

Reacting to the decision to withdraw the application, legal counsel for the NCA, Gary Nimako, said the move as a “good step.”

He said in the light of evidence that the NCA and MTN had been engaging as far back as 2014, the telco’s argument in court that it was not given a fair hearing “was not the best approach.”

He encouraged MTN to engage the regulator and find an “amicable” solution.

Background

The Ministry of Communications on June 9, 2020 announced that the telecommunication industry was facing “glaring disparities” and “imbalances” which it said was unhealthy for competition.