The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the nation’s telecommunications sector regulatory authority, has extended Mafab Communications Limited’s 5G network roll out by five months, indicating that the operator has the grace up to January 2023 to roll out the service.
Mafab, a new entrant into the nation’s telecommunications sector, won the 5G spectrum licence alongside MTN Nigeria in December last year for the rollout of its 5G service after a very competitive auctioning exercise.
Based on the conditions set by the industry regulator, the two operators were expected to roll out the 5G service effective from August 24, 2022.
However, while MTN had set its roll out deadline at before the end of Q2 2022, Mafab appears not to be fully ready for the August 24 roll out deadline, a development which industry analysts believe necessitated the extension of its roll out deadline to January next year by the industry regulator.
Announcing the extension of the deadline for its company in a statement on Sunday, Mafab Chairman, Dr. Mushabu Bashir, still assured: “We are fully committed to bringing the benefits of 5G services to Nigerians and deploying a network that will drive economic development with increased broadband capabilities nationwide.
“I have no doubt that the service will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities, and entertainment. The goal remains to launch before the five-month extension period and we will be sharing more information in the near future”, Bashir added.
A globally accepted industry standard, 5G technology is expected to offer Nigerians telecom services users higher data speed, improved reliability and availability as well as improve the country’s broadband penetration, quality of service, and capabilities.
The 5G auctioning round was organised on November 13, 2021 by the NCC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy during which the commission announced MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Airtel Networks Ltd and Mafab Communications Ltd., as qualified bidders of the 3.5 gigahertz (Ghz) spectrum auction.
Following the successful conclusion of the exercise, the NCC announced the award of the slots for the 3.5 gigahertz (Ghz) Fifth Generation (5G) Technology spectrum to MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited as winners of the auction.
