Telcos share 383m allocated telephone lines in 20 years
Latest fact from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that telecoms operators have been allocated a total of 383 million telephone lines since inception of digital mobile service in the country in 2001.
The commission, in an update released on its official website on Friday 19th, February, 2021, under the heading: National Numbering Plan (2021 Q1), shows the fact
NCC, in a press release on Saturday again clarified that the update report was, by no means, either an indication of new allocation or new activation of telephone numbers in Q1 2021, noting that a media outfit had wrongly interpreted the figure for new phone numbers allocated in the Q1 2021 period alone.
According to the press statement signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC’s director of public affairs, “Rather, the report on the Commission’s website titled: ‘National Numbering Plan (2021 Q1)’ is a routine periodic report issued as part of the Commission’s regulatory mandate to publish and update all telephone numbers allocated to service providers for the benefit of stakeholders.
“The purpose of the National Numbering Plan in the telecommunications sector is to set up a uniform numbering scheme and the associated dialing procedures to be used in the networks to allow the subscribers and operators to set up calls.”
The telecoms regulator urged the general public and all its stakeholders to disregard the said report in the national daily and be guided accordingly.
“While we appreciate the good intention of our media stakeholders in terms of timely reportage of NCC and its regulatory activities, we, however, encourage them to always fact-check their stories with the Commission for accurate reporting.
“We also use this opportunity to remind our esteemed media stakeholders that the Commission runs an Open-House system.
“We encourage them to always feel free to contact the Commission for necessary clarification on NCC’s regulatory activities and reports published on its website before going to press,” the commission said.
