Airtel Africa, one of the bidders for the 3.5GHz spectrums auctioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in December last year, has requested for administrative assignment of one of the two remaining 3.5GHz spectrum lots to it at the reserve price of $273.6 million.
The telco made the request on Tuesday during a stakeholder event organized by the industry regulator in Lagos to review comments made to the industry regulator’s recently released Information Memorandum on the planned auction of two additional 3.5GHz spectrums for 5G deployment.
The Mobile Network Operator (MNO) pointed out that its participation in the first auction made the process competitive as MTN and Mofab would have been issued the licences at the reserve price if there was no third bidder.
However, the NCC turned down the request and maintained that getting one of the two 3.5GHz spectrums by administrative assignment would ensure it does not participate in another auction where the licence goes to the highest bidder.
The commission further clarified that though it is a fair request, the process has been set out and the spectrum would be allocated through auction only.
At the last 5G spectrum auction, NCC had fixed the reserve price at $197.4 million. The price was pushed to $273.6 million, which was the final price paid by MTN and Mafab to acquire the licence. The $273.6 million is now the reserve price for the remaining spectrum lots billed to be auctioned on December 19, 2022.
Speaking at the forum, the commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, stressed that though requests have been made for administrative assignment of the spectrum, the commission would go by the law guiding its operations.
He said: “Following the successful auction of the initial two (2) lots in December 2021, the Commission has received requests to administratively licence the available lots at the previous auction fee. However, the Commission, in line with its powers under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, has decided to licence the available lots in the 3.5GHz band through the Auction Method which is a transparent and efficient approach that can open up opportunities for new entrants as well as deepen competition in the industry.
“The Commission has committed enormous resources to ensure that harmonized Spectrum is secured and released promptly for present and future rollout of services that will underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), including International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT-2020) services.
“We have kept ourselves abreast of developments at international fora, including ITU-R Study Groups to enable the allocation of strategic Spectrum to IMT services especially the IMT-2020 which has been on the front burner in the last two ITU-R Study Cycles.
“Hence, we must ensure the timely release of the Spectrum bands necessary for 5G deployment to the industry to enable us to reap the immediate and envisaged benefits of 5G technology, and facilitate the development of Nigeria’s Digital Economy to foster national growth”, Danbatta added
