Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says licence renewal for MTN Nigeria is still undergoing required regulatory processes.
In a statement signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC director of public affairs, on Monday, the commission debunked a news report which claimed that MTN Nigeria had secured regulatory approval for its licence renewal.
In March, Reuters reported that MTN Nigeria’s operating spectrum and licence renewal was in an advanced stage for another ten years from September 2021.
However, NCC debunked this in the statement saying;
The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to a publication in an online media entitled “Govt renews MTN Nigeria licence amid 20 years of GSM Phones” to the effect that the mobile operating licence of MTN has been renewed by the Commission for another period of 10 years.
The online publication, which cited regulatory filings by the NCC as its source, stated that “MTN Nigeria, the nation’s largest mobile network operator (MNO), has secured regulatory approval of the renewal of its operating licence for another 10 years with effect from September 1, 2021.
It added;
The Commission wishes to state that while MTN Nigeria has applied for the renewal of the Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) granted to it by the Commission, the application is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing required regulatory processes.
This statement is issued for the guidance of our general stakeholders.
In July 2021, NCC also refuted an online publication which reported that the mobile operating licence of Airtel has been renewed by the commission for another period of 10 years.
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Airtel Nigeria had said it applied to NCC for renewal ahead of this expiry date – November 2021 and the process is in progress.
