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The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has shut down a base station owned by one of Nigeria’s leading telecom services providers, Globacom Limited, over an unresolved N5-billion ($12.2 million) debt dispute.
Globacom is a Nigeria-based multinational telecommunications company founded by Nigerian telecom billionaire and oil tycoon Mike Adenuga, who is worth $6.6 billion as of the time of drafting this report.
Information gathered by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Globacom owed the NCAA close to N5 billion ($12.2 million) over the illegal erection of high structures and its refusal to renew expired aviation height clearance certificates.
The aviation authority stated that it reached out to Globacom in a series of letters and then moved to shut down the company’s base station in Abuja in reaction to its actions and its failure to honor meetings with the NCAA to discuss a payment plan.
NCAA Director-General Musa Nuhu, who led a team of security personnel to the company’s base station in Wuse-2, said the agency will continue to disable its main switch centers across the country until the telecom company commits to a payment schedule.
The action comes on the backdrop of an earlier statement, in which the regulatory authority revealed that it will continue to dismantle Globacom’s masts assets across the country until it complies with NCAA regulations and sets up a payment schedule to offsets its debt obligations.
Globacom recently signed a partnership deal with Eutelsat Communications to deliver its Eutelsat Konnect satellite.
The partnership is a multiyear, multi-Gbps wholesale capacity contract. It will enable Globacom to extend its coverage beyond the reach of its terrestrial infrastructure, leveraging the Eutelsat Konnect satellite.
The deal will deliver high-speed broadband by satellite to businesses and communities in underserved areas in Nigeria, while the new infrastructure will complement the Glo-1 submarine cable and extensive fiber-optic layout across the country.
