Benin suspends cellphone networks, including MTN

COTONOU – Benin suspended the networks of two of its four mobile phone operators late on Thursday, cutting off nearly one million subscribers in a dispute over contracts, the West African country’s telecoms regulator said.

The regulator silenced the networks of South Africa-listed MTN and Atlantique Telecom, which is controlled by Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat). The regulator had suspended the companies’ licences on Monday and threatened to shut down their networks if they did not sign new contracts including a US$50 million, 500 per cent rise in the operator fee by Thursday evening.The regulator says the new contracts are needed because both networks had changed their names and operators without its permission.”By this decision, the Transitional Post & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRPT) declares null and void the operations to change Telecel into Moov and Areeba into MTN,” the ATRPT said in a statement late on Thursday.”It appears, following a study of the dossiers supplied by the two operators, that this is indeed a substitution of the operator, and not a change of trading name as claimed by Telecel Benin SA and Spacetel Benin SA,” it said.MTN, whose Benin network was previously operated by Spacetel Benin under the Areeba brand, had 514 000 subscribers in Benin in March.Atlantique Telecom’s Moov network, previously part of the Telecel group, has around 450 000.Benin has around eight million people.The new contracts include a hefty rise in the operator fee after the ATRPT said in May it planned to increase the fee to 30 billion CFA francs from five billion.The increase would be retroactive, meaning each company would pay an additional 25 billion CFA francs to the state.MTN and Atlantique Telecom officials in Benin weren’t immediately available for comment.The regulator said another operator, Libercom, which is a subsidiary of state-owned fixed-line company Benin Telecom, had undertaken to pay the 30 billion CFA fee, and a fourth operator, Bell Benin, owned by local businessman Issa Salifou, would do so in the coming days.Nampa-ReutersThe regulator had suspended the companies’ licences on Monday and threatened to shut down their networks if they did not sign new contracts including a US$50 million, 500 per cent rise in the operator fee by Thursday evening.The regulator says the new contracts are needed because both networks had changed their names and operators without its permission.”By this decision, the Transitional Post & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRPT) declares null and void the operations to change Telecel into Moov and Areeba into MTN,” the ATRPT said in a statement late on Thursday.”It appears, following a study of the dossiers supplied by the two operators, that this is indeed a substitution of the operator, and not a change of trading name as claimed by Telecel Benin SA and Spacetel Benin SA,” it said.MTN, whose Benin network was previously operated by Spacetel Benin under the Areeba brand, had 514 000 subscribers in Benin in March.Atlantique Telecom’s Moov network, previously part of the Telecel group, has around 450 000.Benin has around eight million people.The new contracts include a hefty rise in the operator fee after the ATRPT said in May it planned to increase the fee to 30 billion CFA francs from five billion.The increase would be retroactive, meaning each company would pay an additional 25 billion CFA francs to the state.MTN and Atlantique Telecom officials in Benin weren’t immediately available for comment.The regulator said another operator, Libercom, which is a subsidiary of state-owned fixed-line company Benin Telecom, had undertaken to pay the 30 billion CFA fee, and a fourth operator, Bell Benin, owned by local businessman Issa Salifou, would do so in the coming days.Nampa-Reuters

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.