NCC Issues Additional 5G Spectrum Licences at $273.6 Billion Each  

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed its plan to auction two more fifth generation (5G) network licences at $273.6 billion each. This comes after its first issue of 5G network licences to winning bidders — MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited in December 2021.

The offer includes remaining lots of 2 x 100 megahertz (MHz) in the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band to support the deployment of 5G deployment in the country. This was made known on Saturday in a memorandum titled ‘Information Memorandum on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction’.

“The Reserve Price (RP) is the minimum price for one lot of 100MHz TDD for a ten (10) year licence tenure fixed at Two Hundred and Seventy-Three Million and Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only (US$273,600,000.00) or it’s equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates at the time of the auction,” a part of the memorandum reads.

“The commission will hold a Public Consultation in respect of the draft IM on November 15, 2022. This is in line with the commission’s participatory rule-making process for the communications sector, to give stakeholders and interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on the draft IM before the final document is published.”

It also added that applicants for the spectrum do not have to be licensed network operators in the country but will need a unified access service licence (UASL) if their bid is successful.

In February 2022, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited made their full payment of $273.6 million each for a 5G spectrum licence after emerging winners of the 3. 5 GHz spectrum auction.

Since their successful 5G bid, MTN has rolled out the 5G mobile network while Mafab suspended its roll-out till December this year after it got the approval of NCC for a five-month extension, which ends December 31, 2022.

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