Etisalat's Nigeria unit fined more than $2m

UAE-based telco Emirates Telecommunications Corp has been fined more than $2m for failing to meet minimum service standards in Nigeria. The Nigerian Communications Commission said it has fined the country’s mobile-phone operators a cumulative 1.17bn naira ($7.4m). MTN Group, the largest operator, and Emirates Telecommunications Corp, also known as Etisalat, were each fined 360m naira ($2.28m), while Bharti Airtel must pay a 270m naira penalty and Globacom  was fined 180m naira, Bloomberg reported. The penalties must be paid by May 21 or an additional 2.5 million naira will be charged for each day over the deadline, it said. The Nigerian arm of UAE based telecom Etisalat said in 2010 it would spend up to $500m on its network next year, as it looks to double its customer base to 12 million. Etisalat faces stiff competition in Africa's most populous nation from South Africa's MTN Group and India's Bharti Airtel. Etisalat started full commercial services in Nigeria in October 2008 after buying a 40 percent stake in a new Nigerian telephone operator from Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co.