Celtel Nigeria Sued by Sales Distributors

The Association of Licensed Telecoms Distributors of Nigeria (ALTDON) is planning a N10 billion (US$85 million) lawsuit against the management of Celtel Nigeria - citing unfair business practices by the network operator.

Addressing journalists in Lagos yesterday, the president of ALTDON, Dr. Ayo Ojo, said business is no longer profitable for the trade group members because of "the excessive greed, breach of agreement and unethical ways things are done by Celtel and other providers," He said that the lawsuit was partly to recover losses from the operator but also to act as a deterrent to other companies.

He told the local ThisDay newspaper that "our Lawyers are now about filing a case against Celtel Nigeria Limited in our attempt to seek redress for the various acts of unfair trade practices and breach of agreement which have always been committed against us and now being intensified by the present management."

Amongst the allegations are that Celltel has cut the 2 year sales contracts to a rolling 3-month contract and that it has cut sales commissions almost in half.

Celtel is Nigeria's 3rd largest operator, with a market share of around 21%. According to figures from the Mobile World, the company ended the first half of this year with just under 8 million subscribers.

On the web: ThisDay - The Mobile World

Posted to the site on 25th November 2007