Lagos — Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has denied claims that Nigerian companies are being denied cable landing rights by the South African government, while a local company with South African interest was recently granted a similar licence by the Commission.

The Commission in a statement made available to THISDAY and signed by Head of Media and Public Relations, Reuben Muoka, reiterated that it has investigated the veracity of the claims and found no evidence that any company that actually registered a local company in South Africa, applied for a license and was subsequently denied a cable landing license.

It emphasized that its investigations showed that Globacom never applied to the South African Government for any cable landing right license. It also stated that Main One Cable applied to the South African authorities as a foreign company registered under the laws of Mauritius. The company according to the NCC also did not apply as a Joint Venture with any South African company nor as a South African registered company.

The statement added that "The Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable Company informed the Commission that the firm applied for cable landing right license in response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) published by the South African Government".

The commission confirmed that a landing right license was offered to MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd, a company duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria and operating as a local Nigerian company, after it had fulfilled all the rigorous processing requirements of the Commission which lasted for over a period of not less than six months and approved by the Board of the Commission.