MTN’s application to renew its license to 2031 has encountered some delays as the regulatory agency, the Nigeria’s Communication Commission (NCC) said the application was still undergoing regulatory processing. It could be recalled that early this year, MTN Nigeria announced that it was at an “advanced stage” in renewing its operating spectrum and licence from September. This spectrum encompasses the company’s data network and telecom coverage in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy.
The NCC has said that recent online media reports stating that the telco’s application for its licence renewal had already been granted are false. The NCC released a statement saying that;
“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 said in a statement.
Despite its licence yet to be renewed, the telco has experienced increased revenues in the country across the first half of 2021.
MTN Nigeria Reports Increased Earnings Despite Significant Subscriber Loss
On 30 July 2021, MTN Nigeria released its unaudited results for the half-year ended June as the telco celebrates its 20th anniversary. The results show that its mobile subscriptions had declined by 7.6-million to 68.9-million.
Subscriptions had been significantly impacted by regulatory restrictions on new SIM sales and activations.
The impact of the industry-wide suspension of new SIM registrations was partially mitigated by higher usage in the company’s active SIM base, as well as the firm’s migration to “higher quality experience,” the telco says.
Despite losses in subscribers, the firm reported a 27.6% increase in half-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), despite its sharp decline in subscriptions.
The CEO of MTN Nigeria said, in terms of the future, the operator is planning to invest N600-billion ($1.5-billion) over the next three years to expand broadband access across Nigeria.