Regulator of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has faulted the assertion that the mobile operating license of Airtel Nigeria has been renewed for another ten years.
Instead, the agency disclosed that Airtel’s application for license renewal is still undergoing required regulatory procedures.
In a statement on Sunday in Abuja signed by Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, Director of Public Affairs, the NCC said it was necessary to clear the air following an online report which quoted the managing director of Nigeria’s third largest network as saying that the license had been renewed.
The full statement read: “The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to a recent statement on an online publication credited to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer 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.
“Mr. Ogunsanya 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 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.
“This statement is issued for the guidance of our stakeholders.”
