The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has denied reports in some media platforms that it allocated 383 million new lines to operators in the first quarter of 2021 alone.
The Commission said the reports emanated from a wrong interpretation of an update report on the National Numbering Plan, posted on its official website.
A statement by the Director of Public Affairs of the NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said the “update report posted on the Commission’s website on Friday 19th, February 2021, under the heading: National Numbering Plan (2021 Q1), was the Total Number of Telephone Numbers allocated to all the telecommunications services providers since the inception of digital mobile services in the country in 2001.
“The updated report is, therefore, by no means, either an indication of new allocation or new activation of telephone numbers in Q1 2021, as wrongly interpreted by the media outfit”.
Adinde said 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, he said, 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.
Advising the public and stakeholders to discountenanced the report, Adinde asked the media to always fact-check its reports before going public.
