Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disowned a media report that the nation added 3 million mobile line subscriptions in the first quarter of 2021 despite the ban on SIM card sale.
In a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, the NCC noted: “The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to an online media report alleging that mobile telephony subscriptions in Nigeria somehow grew by 3,000,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of 2021, despite the suspension on the registration of new subscribers which took effect from December 9, 2020 and was only lifted in May, 2021.”
The Commission noted that the Ericsson Mobility Report cited in the online publication is essentially a forecast of trends based on Ericsson’s analysis and does not refer to the NCC or any official channel as source for its data and/or projections.
“It is therefore inaccurate that Nigeria recorded 3 million new lines in the 1st Quarter of 2021 as stated in the media report.
We wish to use this opportunity to clarify that the Nigerian Communications Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) are the only authoritative sources of authentic data on the Nigerian telecommunications sector. Indeed, the Commission is well aware of the critical need to make accurate and up-to-date data available to all Stakeholders.”
The statement further encouraged all Stakeholders to visit the Commission’s website for authentic data on the sector and to refer all doubts to its Public Affairs Department to avoid unnecessary controversy and/or inadvertently misleading other Stakeholders who may rely on such reports.
“Indeed, as a matter of corporate policy and consistent with international best practice, relevant data and statistics on the industry are transparently reported and regularly updated on the Commission’s website (< https://www.ncc.gov.ng/statistics-reports/industry-overview >) for free use by interested Stakeholders.”
The NCC also urges Stakeholders to disregard any information on subscriber data different from those presented in the Commission’s website.
