NCC dismisses report of 3 million new phone lines in Q1 of the year
- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has dismissed as untrue a report published by an online media that mobile telephony subscriptions in Nigeria grew by 3,000,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of 2021, despite suspension of new SIM registrations.
In a statement on Thursday, signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, the NCC said the Ericsson Mobility Report on which the said publication was based was essentially a forecast of trends and does not refer to the NCC or any official channel as source for its data and/or projections.
Suspension placed on the registration of new subscribers took effect from December 9, 2020 and was only lifted in May, 2021.
According to the NCC, “It is therefore inaccurate that Nigeria recorded 3million 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.
‘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 Commission encourages all Stakeholders to visit its 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.
“The Commission also urges Stakeholders to disregard any information on subscriber data different from those presented in the Commission’s website.”
