Telecom Operators via ALTON threatens to withdraw services from the North

Major providers of mobile telephony  in the country  have threatened to withdraw  their services from the  North.

They hinged their threat on the spate of attacks on  base stations which has made them to lose a whopping N1.03bn.

The umbrella body of the telecoms operators, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, on Thursday said its members were losing too much to the development and may close shop if it became too dangerous to operate in the region.

 The major GSM providers – MTN, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat – are all members of ALTON.

Gunmen, also on Thursday reportedly bombed a base station belonging to an indigenous telecoms infrastructure company, IHS Nigeria, in Kano, barely 24 hours after the attack on several base stations in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Gombe states.

 The Executive Director, Commercial and Business Development, IHS, Mr. Gbenga Onakomaiya, who confirmed the development to our correspondent on Thursday, said one of the company’s base stations was bombed in Borno on Wednesday while another one was bombed in Kano on Thursday morning.

 Officials of ALTON put the number of base stations that had been attacked in the north at 26

“This is because beyond base stations, these elements may begin to target telecoms operators‘ offices and data centres among other key infrastructure. That is why it is important that the situation is curtailed before it gets to that point.

Punch : Terrorism : Mobile