Conakry - Mobile operator MTN Group
[JSE:MTN] will pay the government of Guinea €15m within the next 10 days to end a licence fee dispute, an official of Guinea's telecommunications regulator said on Monday.
"They (MTN) signed a commitment which obliges them to pay €15m within 10 days. We believe that the dispute is settled following this decision," Moustapha Diaby, the head of Guinea's regulatory authority, told Reuters.
Guinea's government last week seized assets belonging to MTN in the row over payment of the €15m fee.
A decree signed by Guinean President Alpha Conde said the government had decided to requisition all personnel, equipment, facilities and assets of the company from May 2, until the dispute is settled.
Guinean authorities had also warned MTN that it would suspend the operator's licence if a row over payment due to the government after MTN's 2007 acquisition of a local operator were not resolved.
MTN, the West African nation's leading mobile operator with 2 million subscribers, operates under the Areeba brand in Guinea.