Over eight months after MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications won the bidding for the fifth generation (5G) network spectrum, the Nigerian Communications Commission -NCC is set to issue another spectrum.
It can be recalled that in December 2021, both MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications had outbid network service provider, Airtel, securing the spectrum at $273.60 million, and surpassing the base price of $197.4 million.
However, the reserve price for the next 5G spectrum acquisition is currently placed at $273.60 million. With telecom companies like Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile yet to secure the spectrum, NCC had over the weekend, revealed an opening for them to partake in.
Ever since MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications won the bid last year, only the former has deployed the 5G across seven states in Nigeria as of August 24, 2022; The states include Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri.
Owners of Mafab have been issued a five months extension, which will end in January 2023 to also roll out the 5G network.
Meanwhile, yet-to-be-licensed operators are expected to obtain a Unified Access Service License -UASL if their bid is successful.
