MTN Nigeria Starts Negotiations To Purchase 9mobile Stakes

MTN and 9Mobile Networks 

MTN Nigeria and 9mobile are in negotiations to purchase its operating spectrum

MTN- Nigeria has reportedly been in talks with 9mobile phone owners regarding the possibility of the biggest mobile phone company buying shares in the country's fourth-largest mobile operator, according to Technology Times.

According to reliable telecom industry sources, Technology Times has learned that MTN Nigeria, which is owned by South Africa's MTN Group, and Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), which owns mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria), are in the advanced stages of negotiations regarding the trade of frequency spectrum as a feasible option for concluding the telecom deal.

The notion of trading spectrum is being explored as a means of invigorating 9mobile, which has been floundering since the departure of its principal investors and technical partners, UAE-based Mubadala and UAE-based Etisalat.

A series of events, including a hostile takeover attempt by Nigerian creditor banks, a dispute among shareholders, and a subsequent loss of market share by the last entry in the GSM market, were set off by the withdrawal of the former Etisalat Nigeria Arab investors.

Later, under President Muhammadu Buhari's government, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and Professor Garba Danbatta, Nigeria's banking and telecoms regulatory leaders, were to step in to save 9mobile from the creditor banks' attempts to seize it.

In reaction to a question from Technology Times over the weekend, 9mobile denied that MTN Nigeria was going to purchase its spectrum.

"Our attention has been drawn to the speculated acquisition of 9mobile's Spectrum by MTN. We would like to clarify that these assertions are entirely baseless and without factual merit," Chineze Amanfo, 9mobile Public Relations Lead says in a message to Technology Times.

"In the second quarter of 2023," the spokesperson says, "9mobile invested over 70 billion for ongoing network modernisation. Over 600 new sites, equipped with 4G LTE facilities for enhanced operations and market competitiveness were deployed alongside new broadband services to enlarge our fibre network across Nigerian cities."