The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has expanded its list of approved airtime and data credit operators from five to nine, adding four new firms to the regulatory framework governing the sector.

The development comes despite ongoing legal and regulatory uncertainties surrounding the licensing regime.

The framework remains the subject of an injunction issued by the Federal High Court in Lagos while the FCCPC had earlier announced the suspension of the licensing process on May 22, 2026.

The addition of the new operators has therefore raised fresh questions about the implementation of a framework currently under judicial review and regulatory suspension.

The four new entrants are Technotrends Platforms Nigeria Limited, Fonyou Technologies Nigeria Limited, MRS Innovation Nigeria Limited, and ERL Telecoms Service Limited.

They join the five firms the Commission originally approved on 22 April 2026, which include Total Tim Nigeria Limited, Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited, Mode NG Applications Limited, Cloud Interactive Associate Limited, and Coverage Broadband Limited.

The expanded list raises questions about the current status of the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations 2025, under which all nine firms have been licensed.

Recall that on 15 April 2026, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an interim injunction in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, restraining the Commission from enforcing or implementing the DEON framework against members of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPA).

The Commission sought to vacate the injunction on April 28, but the court declined the request, leaving the order fully in effect.

On 18 May, committal proceedings were filed against the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman for alleged contempt of the court order. Four days later, on 22 May, the Commission announced it was suspending DEON enforcement, citing compliance with the court’s directive. Airtel Nigeria and Globacom subsequently restored airtime credit services to subscribers.

The expansion from five to nine approved operators was confirmed in reports published by national newspapers on 6 June 2026, which cited sources within the Commission. The reports indicated that the approvals form part of a broader effort to open the airtime credit market to indigenous fintech companies.

Industry stakeholders have questioned how new commercial rights can be created under a regulatory framework that is simultaneously subject to judicial restraint and administratively suspended.

ALTON chairman Gbenga Adebayo, who welcomed the FCCPC’s May suspension as a positive step, has previously called for stronger coordination between regulatory agencies to prevent further disruption to the estimated 40 million Nigerians who relied on airtime credit services.