NCC says telecom giant seeks 'amicable' settlement over $3.9 billion fine

South Africa's MTN is seeking an "amicable" out-of-court settlement with Nigeria's NCC telecommunications regulator which has fined the cell operator $3.9 billion, a top NCC official said on Wednesday.

MTN has filed a suit against the fine which was imposed on the company for failing to deactivate unregistered phone SIM cards.

"Our lawyers communicated to us that indeed MTN is resorting to a settlement out of court," Umar Garba Danbatta, NCC's executive vice chairman told reporters. "They (MTN) are trying to get this settled amicably."

MTN Nigeria had been fined $5.2 billion in October by the NCC for failing to deactivate about 5.1 million unregistered SIMs.

The fine was later reduced to $3.9 billion in December, before the telecom company took the matter to court challenging the NCC’s right to impose such a hefty fine on it.