Airtel, Glo, Tier 2 Operators To Battle For 2 Slots Of 5G Licences

Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and tiers two telecommunications service providers are set to battle for the auction of two slots of 3.5GHz spectrum licenses for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) mobile technology in the country at a baseline of $273 million.

Whoever wins the spectrum will join MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications who had earlier won the licenses in the first auction conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on December 14, 2021.

According to a new document titled: ‘Information Memorandum on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction” released on the commission’s website yesterday, signed by director, public affairs of the commission, Reuben Muoka, the NCC is offering two slots in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band for the deployment of the fifth generation (5G) network in the country.

According to Mouka, the offer is the remaining lots of 2 x 100 megahertz (MHz) in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band to support 5G deployment in Nigeria.

He said the commission, therefore, has set the reserve price at $273.60 million. “The Reserve Price (RP) is the minimum price for one lot of 100MHz TDD for a ten year license tenure fixed at $273,600,000 or its equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates at the time of the auction,” the memorandum reads.

The commission said it had developed a draft information memorandum (IM) to support the attainment of this objective through an auction process.

“The commission plans to hold a public consultation in respect of the draft IM on November 15, 2022.

Of the two licenses who won the 3.5GHz spectrum and were issued the licenses in May this year, MTN Nigeria has commenced commercial deployment of 5G in selected cities and states in the country.