Almost seven months after its founding, the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) has awarded three telecom licenses to Airtel Nigeria Telesonic Limited, the company’s fibre service unit.
The network operator was awarded three licenses: an Internet Service Provider license, a Sales and Installation Major license, and a National Long Distance license.
The National Long Distance licence will go into effect on July 1, 2024, and expire on June 30, 2044. It will be valid for 20 years. On the other hand, the Sales and Installation Major licence and the Internet Service Provider licence are valid for five years, from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2029.
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With the NLDO licence, Telesonic can provide long-distance phone services within Nigeria, enabling the business to set up and keep up the infrastructure required to connect calls and data nationwide.
On the other hand, the licence prohibits the holder from providing Internet access to end consumers directly or from providing international long-distance services. This license was also granted to Bayobab, an MTN Group subsidiary that specialises in digital infrastructure, in 2023.
To compete with Spectranet and FibreOne
With the Internet Service Provider licence, the business can compete with other providers like Spectranet and FibreOne by providing Internet services to clients. It enables holders to set up and run separate networks to provide these services.
As of July 2024, there were 242 active Internet service providers in Nigeria, down from 252 in May 2024, after 12 allegedly neglected to renew their licenses.
Additionally, the telco can sell, install, and maintain telecom equipment thanks to the Sales & Installation Major licence.
The company’s main business is manufacturing, importing, exporting, distributing, and selling all kinds of fibre optic systems and networks, including the cables and equipment used in data networks, multi-channel video networks, telecommunication networks, and other electronic, medical, and industrial applications.
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More about Airtel’s Telesonic
To revolutionise the wholesale data market in Africa, Airtel Africa invested in the 2Africa undersea cable infrastructure and established Telesonic, a wholesale fibre company, in February 2024.
As a result, the new company, Telesonic, will own Airtel Africa’s fibre assets and submarine cable systems, which account for almost 75,000 km of terrestrial fibre spread over 14 nations.
This action follows the December 2023 launch of Nxtra, a new data centre business by Airtel Africa, which opened a tier 3 data centre in Lagos the previous year. The firm hopes to construct one of the most extensive and capacious data centres.
At the unveiling, Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya said the initiative would offer “cutting-edge fibre-optic solutions” to meet the continent’s digital demands in several areas.