South Africa's mobile phone giant MTN has asked Nigeria for a plan to allow it to stagger the payment of a $5.2 billion fine just days before the Monday deadline, a source at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) told Reuters.
The source added that the government was considering the request, made at a meeting on Friday between MTN and high-level government officials, and that the decision would be disclosed on Monday.
The NCC slapped the fine on MTN last month for its failure to cut off 5.2 million unregistered SIM cards. MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng said: "We are waiting for authorities to come back to us".
Nigeria has been pushing telecommunication operators to verify the identity of subscribers due to concerns that unregistered SIM cards are being used for criminal activity or even by Boko Haram militants waging an Islamist insurgency in the north-east.
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