The Nigerian Communications Commission says it has discovered 41 unlicensed Internet Service Providers operating in the country’s telecommunications landscape.

The regulatory body made this known in its ‘2016 Q1 Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Reports’, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday.

It said there was compliance monitoring regarding the engagement of the unlicensed service providers, providing Internet/data access in the country.

The NCC said following its surveillance and intelligence gathering, it discovered that some financial institutions engaged the illegal providers for their Internet and data services.

According to the report, in line with the commission’s compliance processes, the banks were requested to provide the names and details of their service providers.

The NCC stated, “Arising from this compliance check, the commission has discovered that 41 companies engaged were operating without the requisite authorisation.

“To this end, the commission has commenced the necessary enforcement process in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.”

The report said that the telecommunications regulator’s activities were in accordance with Section 89 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, which mandates the NCC to “monitor all significant matters relating to the performance of all licensed telecom service providers and publish annual reports at the end of each financial year.”