Embattled Minster for Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami has ordered the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to review the license given to MTN Nigeria, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile.
Recall that it sanctioned the licence review, which reportedly took place 20 years ago. The NCC is one of six agencies that the minister superintends. Others are NITDA, NIPOST, NIMC, NIGCOMSAT, and Galaxy Backbone.
The NCC has at least 8,000 licensees listed on its website. According to the commission, an “international cable infrastructure and landing station” licence costs $210,000 for 20 years.
NCC’s spokesman Ikechukwu Adinde disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that the move demonstrated its responsiveness to global trends in the information and communications technology ecosystem.
Mr Adinde noted that executive vice-chairman Umar Danbatta had inaugurated a standing committee to review operators’ licences in the telecom industry.
Mr Danbatta, while inaugurating the committee, stated that the current licensing structure was almost 20 years old.
“Therefore, it is evidently clear that this standing committee, drawn up from competent hands in various departments of the commission, is perfectly suited and capable of addressing the enormous task of reviewing the existing license structure of telecom licensees in Nigeria,” he explained.