Nigerian regulator says it has not renewed MTN’s Unified Access Service licence

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has debunked reports making the round that it has renewed MTN Nigeria’s licence for an additional 10 years.

The NCC made this declaration in a statement made available to the press. In the statement, the NCC clarified that while MTN has applied for the renewal of the Unified Access Service Licence ((UASL), it is yet to grant its approval as it is still undergoing required regulatory processes.

“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 statement reads.

According to the NCC, the online publication cited regulatory filings by the NCC as the source of its information, stating 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.

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.

NCC

The NCC introduced the Unified Access Service Licence in February 2005. The unified licensing as it is called, allows existing fixed wireless and mobile licensees to provide both services subject to geographical/regional
limitations contained in their licence.

MTN Nigeria’s business witnessed double-digit growth in the first half of the year. According to the unaudited results for the half-year ended June, the telcos service revenue rose 24.1% to N790.3 billion.

A breakdown shows that voice revenue grew by 13.1% to N413.5 billion and data revenue continued the positive momentum from the second half of 2020, rising by 48.3% to N228.5bn as data traffic rose by 83.0% YoY.

Despite losing more than 7 million subscribers, the telco still enjoyed tremendous profit and will be looking to continue with the renewal of its licence.