NCC says that Airtel Nigeria’s Mobile operating licence is still pending renewal

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reacted to a recent report that indicated that the mobile operating licence of telecommunications company Airtel Nigeria has been renewed by the Commission for another period of 10 years. This was credited to a statement by Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun Ogunsanya.

According to the NCC, Airtel’s license application is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing the required regulatory process.

In a statement by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, he clarified that:

“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”.

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’.

Mr Adinde indicated that the clarification was necessary for “the guidance of our stakeholders.”

CEO was misquoted- Airtel

Meanwhile, Airtel Nigeria has clarified that its Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun Ogunsanya, was misquoted over the renewal of the telco’s license. The telco company insisted that the CEO’s statement was reported out of context.

This was confirmed in the statement issued by Airtel and signed by Emeka Oparah, Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR at Airtel Networks Limited. The statement reads:

“During the launch of our flagship corporate social responsibility program titled Airtel Touching Lives, last week, a contrast was drawn between operating license and social license. Whilst the operating license is issued by NCC, we stated that a social license is earned by what a company does for its communities”.

He confirmed the stand of the NCC by saying that Airtel Nigeria is awaiting the renewal process.

“However, for clarity, an operating license is always issued by NCC and our current license expires in November 2021. We have applied to NCC for its renewal ahead of this expiry date and the renewal process is in progress but yet to be concluded“, he added.