Airtel Nigeria’s operating licence is yet to be renewed contrary to claims by the mobile network operator, the nation’s telecoms regulator says.
Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Public Affairs Director of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says today that though Airtel Nigeria has applied for renewal of its Unified Access Service (UASL) licence, “the application is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing required regulatory process.”
Airtel Nigeria, the number two mobile network operator with over 50 million active mobile phone customers, notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in January this year of the renewal of its spectrum licence by the telecoms regulator.
| Unified Access Service (UASL) Licensees in Nigeria* | ||
| Company Name | Start Date | Expiry Date |
| MTN Nigeria Communications Plc | 01/09/2021 | 31/08/2031 |
| Intercellular Nig Plc | 01/12/2016 | 30/11/2026 |
| Airtel (Formerly Celtel Nig Ltd) | 01/12/2006 | 30/11/2021 |
| Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Ltd | 17/04/2007 | 16/04/2022 |
| Gamjitel Ltd | 06/08/2013 | 05/08/2023 |
| Smile Communications Nigeria Limited | 01/07/2019 | 30/06/2029 |
| NATCOM Development Investment Ltd | 09/02/2016 | 08/02/2031 |
| Global Independent Connect Limited | 01/06/2018 | 31/05/2028 |
| *As of July 18, 2021 Source: NCC/Technology Times Intelligence Unit. |
NCC: Airtel Nigeria has applied for licence renewal
This time around, Adinde says that NCC’s attention “has been drawn to a recent statement on an online publication credited to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Office of Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Olusegun Ogunsanya, to the effect that the mobile operating licence of Airtel has been renewed by the Commission for another period of 10 years.”
The Airtel Nigeria CEO “was said to have made the statement while speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, July 14, 202, during the media launch of Airtel’s corporate social responsibility programme, ‘Touching Lives 6’, the telecoms regulator says in a statement made available to Technology Times.
“The Commission wishes to state that while Airtel Nigeria has applied for the renewal of the Unified Access Service (UASL) Licence granted to it by the Commission, the application is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing required regulatory process”, according to the NCC Public Affairs Director.
Efforts to get Airtel Nigeria to comment on the NCC’s statement at the time of publication has proved abortive.
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