The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has awarded three significant licences to Airtel Nigeria Telesonic Limited, a subsidiary of Airtel Africa, enabling the company to expand its fibre network and enhance telecommunications infrastructure across Nigeria. These new licences will support the growing demand for data services in the country.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to details on the NCC’s official website, the licences granted include National Long Distance (NLD), Internet Service Provider (ISP), and Sales & Installation Major licences.
“The companies listed below are those that have fully paid their licence fees and have received their licence documents for their respective telecommunications operations prior to the reclassification of licences into class and individual categories,” the NCC said in a statement.
The NLD licence, valid for 20 years, will be in effect from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2044, allowing Airtel Nigeria to establish and manage long-distance communication networks, providing voice, data, and video services nationwide. Meanwhile, the ISP and Sales & Installation Major licences will be valid for five years, running from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2029.
Airtel Nigeria Telesonic Limited was launched in February as a wholesale fibre division of Airtel Africa, with a vision to revolutionize the continent’s data market. This move follows the December 2023 launch of Nxtra, Airtel’s new data centre business, which builds on the success of its Lagos-based Tier 3 data centre opened in 2022.
At the Telesonic launch, Airtel Africa CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, highlighted the ongoing digital revolution across Africa, driven largely by the rising demand for data services among the continent’s young population. He emphasized Airtel’s commitment to closing the digital divide and fostering innovation and economic growth through scalable and reliable infrastructure.
Nigeria currently has about 35,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables, with plans to expand this by 90,000 kilometres as part of efforts to boost connectivity and digital inclusion. This initiative aligns with the government’s strategy to connect all 774 local government areas and achieve 70% broadband penetration by 2025, as outlined by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
