Airtel Nigeria has clarified that its operating license has not been renewed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The telco made the clarification on Monday, following the release issued by the NCC debunking an earlier statement by the Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, to the effect that the mobile operating license of Airtel had been renewed by the Commission, for another period of 10 years.
Ogunsanya was said to have made the statement in Lagos, during the media launch of Airtel’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme, ‘Touching Lives 6”.
But NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, in a statement on Sunday, in Abuja, debunked Ogunsanya’s claim and explained that while Airtel Nigeria had applied for the renewal of the Unified Access Service (UASL) License granted to it by the Commission, the application is yet to be approved as it is currently undergoing required regulatory process.
Providing further clarifications on the issue on Monday, Emeka Opara, Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR at Airtel Nigeria, said that the Managing Director menioned social license and not operating license as widely reported.
“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, Opara was quoted in the statement to have said.