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It seems that misunderstandings between the lasting unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) debt misunderstanding (DMBS) and telecom operators have been addressed.
This was confirmed by Karl Toriola, CEO of Nigeria MTN Nigeria, on Thursday, March 1, when he appeared on Arise TV to speak with the company’s 2025 results, with the telecom company reporting more than N1 trillion in revenue revenue.
Recall that USSD debt has been a major issue between DMB and telecommunications companies and has lasted for about five years.
In the third quarter of 2024, telecom companies threatened to withdraw their services on lingering debt, which was about 200 billion guilds at the time. This led to rapid intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and reached an agreement.
As of November 2024, the NCC set its debt at 160 billion guilds. But earlier this year, when banks did not make payments coming, the NCC directed telecom companies to withdraw USSD services from debt DMB, with about 18 of them listed.
The directive prompted banks to look inward and began to comply with an earlier circular signed by the CBN and the NCC that clarified the payment methods for debts.
On the morning of May 1, Toriola said on TV this morning that the matter has been completely resolved and that the bank has paid.
“I can confirm that this matter has been completely resolved. We have received the payment in full. Special thanks to CBN, NCC, banks and other stakeholders involved in the matter,” said the CEO of MTN.
