South Sudan suspends operations of mobile phone company

JUBA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's telecommunications regulator has suspended the operations of mobile regulator Vivacell network, accusing the operator of not complying with the country's laws.

The National Communications Authority (NCA) said in a public notice on Wednesday that the operations of Vivacell, a joint venture between Lebanon's Fattouch Investment Group and South Sudanese traders have been suspended effective March 20, without giving further details.

The regulator said Vivacell's international traffic services have been cut off and it has given the telecom company one week to suspend all operations in South Sudan.

"Due to the inconvenience that the suspension might cause to the customers, NCA has given Vivacell a period of one week to suspend all operations. But international traffic are immediately suspended," said part of the notice.

There was no immediate response from the company. Two other operators, South Africa's MTN and Kuwait's Zain remain operational in South Sudan. Enditem