The MTN Group has finally acquired Visafone Communications Limited, the second leading CDMA provider in Nigeria, Technology Times reports.

The deal was reportedly signed at the tail end of last year, after approvals from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Government of Nigeria. It would have happened earlier but for the hefty N1 trillion fine placed on it by the NCC.

Other sources also report that the acquisition has led to a mass retrenchment at Visafone where over 2000 people have been sent home, albeit with 3-month severance packages.

The acquisition will strengthen MTN’s foothold in the country even further as MTN Nigeria is already Nigeria’s biggest telco by subscriber base. As at September 2015, MTN Nigeria had over 62 million active subscribers. Couple that now with Visafone’s 2 million subscribers and you have MTN way ahead the pack. Of particular interest is the CDMA company’s broadband infrastructure which will pave the way for MTN to bolster its internet services through the launch of 4G LTE on its network.

This is the first acquisition of its kind in Nigeria. Right now, there’s no available info on how much MTN paid for the CDMA operator, but we’ll know soon enough.