By Victor Uzoho
The Nigerian Communications Commission has said the application of Airtel Nigeria for the renewal of the Universal Access and Service (UASL) Licence is yet to be approved and still undergoing the required regulatory process.
The Commission said on Sunday that the rebuttal followed comments allegedly credited to the outgoing Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Segun Olusanya, to the effect that the mobile operating licence of Airtel has been renewed for another period of 10 years.
Admitting that Airtel Nigeria has applied for the licence renewal, NCC clarified that “this statement is issued for the guidance of our stakeholders,” according to the Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.
In a swift response also, Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR at Airtel Networks Limited, Emeka Oparah, insisted that Olusanya was misrepresented.
His statement reads: “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.”
UASL is granted by the NCC under Section 32 of the Act 2003 to an operator for a specified period of time to cover a specified area.
The system of universal access and universal service provision is to promote greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria.
Section 1:2 of the Act states: “This Licence shall take effect from___________ and shall have tenure of 10 Years thereafter, in the first instance, but subject to Condition 21 of Schedule 1 to this Licence, shall be subject to revocation thereafter upon the giving of Twelve Months’ notice in writing by the Commission to the Licensee of such revocation. The Licence may be renewed subject to Condition 20 of Schedule 1 to this Licence.”
Specifically, Part 1 of the Universal Access and Universal Service Regulations 2007, which specifies the ultimate objectives of the system of universal access and universal service provision, to include:
(a) Promote greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria; and
(b) Contribute to national economic, social, and cultural development of Nigeria regulatory and Market environment.
In line with above objectives, recall that Social Inclusion, Poverty Eradication and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, targets to enable citizens’ participation in decision-making activities that affect their lives, allowing all groups to take part in this process, especially marginalized groups, of which communication is key.
